Afterward


With the election behind us, I wanted to write to everyone who has received these essays since I began writing them in late August. The election didn’t go as I hoped it would go, and while I have a feeling that we will reap the whirlwind of America’s decision, all of that remains in the future where it will unfold as it will.

Instead, I wanted to write to thank you. First of all, thank you to those people who took the time to read the essays despite being overwhelmed with information from every source. Thank you also to the people who responded with gratitude for the research that I did to clarify some of the issues that faced us as well as some of the terminology that kept being bandied about. I would also like to thank the people who disagreed with me and who wrote to me with respect as they laid out their positions. Out of the hundreds of people to whom I sent essays, there were actually only two individuals who berated me for expressing my thoughts and sharing what I’d learned about the various issues.

Above all, I would very much like to thank those of you who made the compassionate decision not to write to me with the intention of crowing about the GOP victory. Indeed, only one person did that, informing me early yesterday morning that I had “played the wrong hand” as if this had been some bizarre game instead of what I believed was a critically important election. For me, comparing the election to a game of cards with, as the individual put it, reality being “the winner,” was most surprising because the writer of those words is an elderly woman, a white woman with granddaughters, an immigrant woman, and a woman who grew up in Germany after World War II. But there you have it.

We’re moving into an uncertain future. I hope that the faith America has placed in the President- elect proves to be the solid ground we need to improve the lives of everyone. It was a landslide election and a rousing vote of support for Mr. Trump, for his plans for the country, and for his coming administration, so if the majority of the voting public gave him such a show of approbation, perhaps those of us who didn’t vote for him were very much wrong in our assessment.

I sign off now with good will to all of you and, again, with thanks for your kindness and supportive words.

Elizabeth George
Seattle, Washington
November 7, 2024