Remembering November 4, 2004

I don't think I really want to get into politics on my Blog, but I cannot let today go by without "mourning" this day last year. A year ago today I stood patiently in line for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS waiting to cast my vote in the presidential election. Here in Ohio, some people stood in line for NINE hours, with children, skipping their jobs, missing meals... Some people couldn't wait that long, couldn't miss their jobs and lose their daily paychecks, and their votes could never even be cast.

Columbus, Ohio 11/4/04

It was just days after I had suffered a terrible bout with food poisoning that landed me in the emergency room. I was weak and shaky, but I stood there for those four hours with so much HOPE in my heart... I stood there among all these other people that had the same sparks of hope in their eyes... that we were helping to change the world. That we would be preventing what would surely be a disaster.

I'm still in shock over it all. I'm still disappointed that it all came down to Ohio. I'm disappointed that there weren't more investigations into voter fraud and discrimination that DID happen here in Ohio and other states. My heart sank on November 5 and still hasn't recovered, especially since now we've seen just how far we've sunk in the past year.

But I can't help but still be hopeful that someday we'll pull ourselves back out of these messes. It's almost painful to imagine how very different things would be right now had the election ended differently. And it's scary to think how much worse things might get in the next three years. Here's hoping our fears do not become a reality. Here's hoping sanity and humanity win out...

I feel like I should be wearing a black armband today. *sigh*