2 + 44 = hope

Hey B,

I really been thinking about this blog since the election and I've been rolling around in my mind what I wanted to say to you about this historic event. But last night I got a call from your mommy and daddy that changes a "little bit" what I will write.

Mommy and Daddy found a really clever way of announcing a new event in all of your and our lives. They called and we put you on the speaker phone so that we could hear what "Brendan had learned to do". Daddy asked you what a duck says and you responded appropriately. Then it was what does a sheep say. Then a monkey and so on. Then the big one was what does your little brother or sister say. I was totally surprised. So now Brendan is going to be a big brother. My little buddy, you now are entering into a whole new world which is that of not being the only child. But Pops! has the feeling that his little buddy is going to be a great big brother. Mommy and daddy are going to need your help with the new one. They're pretty good parents but I'm sure that they will need your help. You did a good job helping them the first time around. :)
I bet the second time with your help, they'll do great again. 2 certainly changes things.

But there was another big event this week with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I was not a supporter of Barack Obama and neither was I a supporter of MCCain for reasons I have discussed in popthoughts-pops.blogspot.com. However, this election was historic and inspiring. Obama's story alone is amazing. The son of a goat farmer from Africa has risen to the highest position of power in the world. A man who has overcome the Achilles heel of the American story-racism. I think now about the futures of both my grandchildren, hoping that this man and his administration can change the course of American politics forever. I'm not talking about conservative or liberal values but am talking about a country where diverging values can come together for the common good of her people. A country where morality and religious values are not legislated from Washington but are "legislated" from her people in their homes, churches and communities. I see a country for my two grandchildren that can be much different than from what Pops! saw as a youngster. A world in which I heard adults around me spewing venom for those of "another background". A world in which I learned that those described by using the "n" word were to be feared. A world in which those so described were considered to be a little less than "human". A world in which until I was in high school that those so described were not allowed to attend schools with us. I see a world in which you and your sibling will wonder how decent people could have EVER thought the way they did. I see a world where the racism that I knew is total foreign to my "little buddies'. Is this world possible? The election of Barack Obama, whether one likes is politics or not, says that this kind of world is possible. I do often think about what your life will be like when I'm no longer around. I pray for a country that is at peace with the world, a country where racial bigotry is a gone, a country where religious bigotry is gone, and a country where bigotry for any reason is gone. I pray for a world where money does not any longer buy power but where ideas are powerful.

Always remember that pops! wants the best for his "little buddies". And 44 suggests that that might just happen-it changes things.

And remember...

pops! loves you.