Saturday was a good day.
It was a beautiful day.
I was filled with joy and happiness, knowing that my children were now living in a safer world, a kinder world, a world where our opponents are not our enemies, a world where we can work together side-by-side, respecting one another’s thoughts and opinions.
Four years ago, I was afraid to bring into the world a third child, a daughter. I was terrified that she was going to be born into a world of hate; where bullying, name calling, and humiliation were the rules of the game. My partner and I worried over what to name our daughter, hoping to give her a name that suggested competency, intelligence, and staying away from names that evoked softness.
I marched at the first ever Women’s March in Oakland. It was a great day with women, men, and children coming together for a united cause against the newly-elected dictator. I was a month away from my due date, but I marched along with the disability contingency that had formed as proud participants of the march.
I had been experiencing concerning blood pressure readings, so my doctor had asked me to check into labor and delivery the night before to check on my daughter. I knew that if I checked in, I wouldn’t check out until my daughter was born. I insisted on marching, and then going to the hospital. So that is exactly what I did.
I marched myself to the hospital, and as I expected, I was invited to stay and be induced because my BP readings were dangerously high for me and the baby.
Fifty three and a half hours later, my daughter was born.
She was born into a world that I was not particularly proud of, and I found it difficult to answer my children when they asked why we had just elected a mean man as president. My oldest child was so proud that we were going to elect the first woman president and that his parents had voted for her. And then …
Fast forward four years …
I have personally avoided the news for four years. In fact, I rarely watch or listen to the news because it is often filled with too much hate and sadness. so, I consciously choose what news to indulge in, and the last four years I can confidently say I have not read a single news brief that featured the toddler-in-chief.
As of yesterday, I feel that my children are now living in a world I can respect again. It’s not going to be an easy road forward, but as a country we’ve started the journey. And the journey looks and feels promising. We’ve elected the first woman Vice President. And what makes this even more monumental, she’s black and southeast Asian. We have a President, who in his speech to America said the word “disability.” He acknowledged that people with disabilities would not be forgotten because he is our president too. His exact words were:
“We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability.”
I have never felt so seen. And feeling seen, I know there’s hope for me, for my children, for the country.
Signing off for now,
Bay Area Blind Mom
Bay Area Blind Mom 