"No Sleep Till 270!"

Sometimes timing is perfection. Such was the case Friday afternoon, when Luke, Shulamith, and Isaiah pulled into Washington D.C. just as the state of Pennsylvania was called for Biden. Honking horns and cheers of joy filled the streets as people celebrated the end of an era of despair, frustration, and pain. In Isaiah's words, "There was jubilation, and it was awesome to be part of it!" 

Early Friday morning, Shulamith and Isaiah flew to Maryland to visit their brother Luke. When they planned this trip, they knew it would fall just three days after the presidential election; however, they had no idea it would take all three of those days to count all the votes and determine the winner.

It had been a long three days that began Tuesday night, as polls closed around the country. As the hours passed and Trump was showing early leads in some swing states, the mood at our house grew quietly anxious as everyone was glued to the TV but also to various maps and predictions on his or her own personal device:

Isaiah is the most politically informed person I know, so when he's nervous, I'm nervous. He was nervous. He had all the swing states' electoral votes in mind, as he calculated the different paths that would move Vice President Biden to the needed 270. By 11:00 p.m., he still felt "okay" about things, though not nearly as confident as he had been earlier. I was exhausted. I wanted to stay up and watch, but I also needed to sleep, so I told Isaiah to text me any important developments, and I went to bed.

Isaiah's election marathon would continue for the next three days, with only brief sleep periods here and there. Each night, he waited up for additional states to turn blue, his motto: "No sleep till 270!" And that 270 came as he and his sister and brother pulled into Washington D.C. Friday afternoon!

I struggle to put words to my feelings during those three, long days of waiting. I couldn't imagine enduring four more years of the current president, and yet that was an undeniably real possibility. At one point I told Isaiah, "If this thing goes bad, I want to hear it from you, not from someone else or from social media, so please tell me right away." He said he would, and that helped a little. Each morning, things looked more hopeful than the day before, but you know me: always glass half empty. I kept waiting for the proverbial "other shoe" to drop. 

It didn't. I am so relieved. And grateful. And just really, really happy!

I may or may not have cried as I watched both speeches last night. Kamala didn't just break that glass ceiling; she freakin' shattered it to pieces! When I was a little girl, the idea of a female vice president was unheard of! Some say it doesn't matter, but I disagree. It matters. Wearing a lovely white suit as a tribute to women's suffrage, Vice President-elect Harris declared, "I may be the first, but won't be the last." 

President-elect Biden faces unique challenges, and he won't meet them perfectly. He will make mistakes. He will almost certainly make decisions I disagree with. But dang. I...we...will once again have a president whom we can respect as a decent human being, one who isn't an embarrassment to our nation throughout the world, one who cares about someone other than himself. 

Rest easy, my friends. A new day lies before us, and there is so much hope. 

(P.S. Get some sleep, Isaiah!)