why i voted

No matter who wins today’s election, tomorrow i will wake up, kiss my kids good morning, dress Liam in his hoodie and jacket, make breakfast, and drive the kids to school. I will laugh at jokes, eat a nice lunch, and my life will be exactly the same.

If during this next term, my taxes go up or go down, my husband and I will pay them the same way we always do. I’ll go to my doctors appointment with my health insurance card in my pocket just as I have always done.

And that right there, my friends, is white privilege in a nutshell shell.

This fact is not lost on me. The term “white privilege” does not insult me, instead I decide what this means, I take this knowledge with me, and I do some thing about it.

No matter who wins this election, nothing will change for me. I will be fine.

But tomorrow SO MANY people may not be fine. So yes I voted. But I did not vote for me. This election is not about me. I voted instead for all the mother’s who didn’t kiss their children good morning because they were separated from them at the border.

For the gay couples who are rushing to chapels to get married for fear that they may not be able to someday.

For my friends in the infertility community who are literally banking their eggs and embryos for fear that reproductive rights, including rights to fertility procedures and IVFs, may be taken away. Or anyone rushing to the doctor for fear their health insurance may go away.

And for my Black friends, the mothers and fathers, who worry if their son should wear that hoodie to school today because someone may call the police on him and that alone may ultimately lead to their death. Which is something I have never had to worry about with my white sons. A fear that lives in the mind for so many mothers may have never even crossed your mind. If I could do even something to make this fear disappear for them, I would do it.

I didn’t vote this year for me. I voted for them. And by the time you read this, the polls will be closed. But maybe when you wake up tomorrow, remind yourself that life is not all about you. This country is full of so many people outside of the ones who live among your four walls. Diverse, beautiful, wonderful people who’s lives are literally counting on you. Remember that in every single decision you make whether big or small. Carry it with you throughout your day and try to see the world through the eyes of someone else.

It’s a privilege to be able to vote. But this year it was also an honor to vote for you.