There's an election tomorrow.  The outcome will have a direct impact on all of us in a number of ways.  And to say I'm anxious about it is an understatement.

As I sit here tonight, I can't help but think of an old boyfriend of mine.  He was abusive.  I don't talk about it much.  And I try not to think about it much.  But tonight, I can't get it off my mind.

The thing about abusive relationships is that they don't start that way.  They start out great with just a few red flags.  Then something 'sort of' bad happens, but you assume it's just an anomaly, and the relationship seems mostly alright.  Then 'sort of' bad becomes 'outright' bad, and then it slowly evolves into 'terrible name-calling and being thrown around a room until you can safely escape to a friend's house, where you're surrounded by good people who remind you what real love and happiness is.'

That's how I feel about the last four years under this administration.

There is nothing normal or 'sort of' bad about what's happening in our country.  The richest and most powerful among us are either too busy bickering or just too disinterested to notice the suffering among the majority of Americans.  The President who started his tenure by calling a few names and making a couple bad calls has now made a mockery of a virus that has killed almost 250,000 people here, cozied up with Putin, lauded supremacist groups, alienated us from our allies, bullied the weak, and done nothing to support the most vulnerable population during this economic disaster.

I want it to stop.

Reader, I hope you vote tomorrow.  And no matter what happens, remember that the current state of affairs is not just a little bad.  It's terrible.  We are now so far beyond any kind of bad behavior that I've ever seen.  Whether or not this administration comes to an end, I was reminded this week that we can still free ourselves from the mental anguish of it all by surrounding ourselves with good people who remind us what real love and happiness is. 

I leave you with a picture of one of my employees and friends.  This past week, my staff and I have been working around the clock to transform my restaurant into a storefront to try to make it through this forced closure.  Clocking so much time with such tremendous humans is what has made me see that--no matter how bad things get in the world--the good people will always shine a light through the chaos. See you next Monday. -Em