It’s not over

I feel just as deflated and depressed as many of you do. But, I keep telling myself, now is not the time to lose hope.

It breaks my heart to think that those who voted for the first time this year, those who spent countless days and nights canvassing neighborhoods and raising money, those who kept their hopes up until the very last minute, might look at today and think it was all for nothing. It would be too easy to throw our hands up in the air and stop trying. But we can’t give up yet.

Almost 30 years ago, my parents left the Philippines at a time of martial law to seek a better life for their children. And we are so much better off because of it. I made the decision in 1997 to become a U.S. citizen, because I wanted to have a voice in the country where I grew up, the country that I had grown to love. I do not regret that. I still have hope, even if it’s just a glimmer, even if today it wants to curl up in a ball and cry itself to sleep. Tomorrow, hope will still reside in my heart, because that’s just the kind of person I am.

I have said before that I’m no good at politics. I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of our government and the issues that we face. I won’t speak for the entire country, because clearly there are people who have views and values far different from my own.

But I can do my part, as small as it may be, to help those around me. I can keep educating myself and others. I can continue to speak my mind and heart. But give up? I just can’t do that yet.

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