I'm thinking of my friends and family.

We all have to live together.

Today, I’m thinking of my friends and family.

I’m thinking of my friends and family who are ecstatic about these election results.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are heartbroken.

I am thinking of my friends and family who spent time over the past month sending emails, making phone calls, mailing postcards, and knocking on doors.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are so overwhelmed by life or so disillusioned by politics they haven’t paid much attention at all.

I am thinking of my friends and family who don’t understand what all the fuss is about.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are desperate for people to care.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are struggling under the weight of grocery prices and housing prices. I am thinking of my friends and family who are struggling under the costs and limited-availability of childcare.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who just want to feel comfortable in their bodies and relationships.

I am thinking of my friends and family who think some children are making life-changing decisions too young.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are cancer patients and cancer survivors and who are worried about being eligible for health insurance in the future. I am thinking of those who fight with insurance companies every single month to get the medicine and care and they need.

I am thinking of my friends and family who work in healthcare, who so desperately want to provide good care to patients, and who are exhausted by impossible hours and poor work conditions, an impossible patient load, and fighting with insurance companies.

I am thinking of my friends and family with disabilities. I am thinking of those who are caring for parents, siblings, and children with disabilities.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are lawyers, English teachers, business owners, and social workers and work with refugees and immigrants. I am thinking of the hard stories they hold in their hearts, and thinking of them as they worry about the safety and well-being of their clients.

I am thinking of my friends and family (including those who are white) who feel unseen, unheard, and unwelcome, and worry about their place in this world.

I am thinking of my friends who live in Los Angeles and New York City and Atlanta and Chicago and Indianapolis. I am thinking of my friends and family who live on farms and homesteads. I am thinking of my friends and family on the east coast, the west coast, and everywhere in-between.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have come to the states from Venezuela, England, Cuba, the Philippines, Nigeria, Mexico, Canada, Lithuania, Taiwan, India, Ethiopia, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Russia, China, El Salvador, Malawi, Israel, Haiti, Brazil. (I know I’m forgetting places!)

I am thinking of my friends and family who are undocumented.

I am thinking of my friends and family who want their loved ones to join them here.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have struggled to find jobs that meet their financial needs, let alone social and emotional.

I am thinking of my friends and family who grew up in religious environments that caused real, lasting harm. I am thinking of my friends and family who still love and cherish the religious traditions that have belonged to them most of their lives, and who long for others to experience similar connection, joy, meaning. I am thinking of my friends and family whose ideas about faith, religion, and spirituality have shifted and changed over time.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have served in the military. I am thinking of my friends and family who are pacifists. I am thinking of my friends and family who have lived and worked in war zones.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are educators and administrators.

I am thinking of my friends and family whose children attend neighborhood public schools. I am thinking of my friends and family who would never send their children to those schools. I am thinking of my friends and family who have chosen charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have experienced school lockdowns and intruder drills, and I am thinking about those who have experienced school shootings. I am thinking of my friends and family who are afraid their child’s school will be next.

I am thinking about my friends and family who hate guns. I am thinking of my friends and family who own guns. I am thinking of my friends and family who believe they should be equipped to protect ourselves, no matter what.

I am thinking of my friends and family with PhDs, who worry about tenure and research funding. I am thinking of my friends and family who did not finish high school.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have spent time in jail. I am thinking of my friends and family who have never even received a traffic citation.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are women, who run businesses and companies and schools and classrooms and families and churches.

I am thinking of my friends and family who think women should stay home with children. I am thinking of my friends and family who can’t bring themselves to vote for a woman.

I am thinking of my friends and family who are small business owners, who worry about the taxes they’ll have to pay each year.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have lost babies, whose medical charts include the word “abortion,” who navigated an impossible situation with grace and wisdom and the advice of doctors and grief.

I am thinking of my friends and family who so desperately want a child, they can’t imagine anyone choosing another path.

I am thinking of my friends and family who built their families through adoption. I am thinking of my friends and family who built their families through IVF. I am thinking of my friends and family who couldn’t afford these options.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have chosen not to have children.

I am thinking of my Jewish friends and family, who worry about their safety and that of their children.

I am thinking of my friends and family of color who have faced racism and discrimination.

I am thinking of my friends and family who have been sexually assaulted, abused, and harassed. I am thinking of my friends and family who have committed the assaulting, harassing, and abuse.

I am thinking of my friends and family who think a politician’s personal behavior doesn’t impact their ability to do their job.

I am thinking of my friends and family who believe the government has a responsibility to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of its people.

I am thinking of my friends and family who believe the government should get the heck out of their way.

I am thinking of my friends and family who believe their moral and religious convictions are the best way forward for all of us.

I am thinking about how we need to relearn how to disagree and communicate. I am thinking about how I’ve probably offended you or hurt you with what I’ve posted on social media or what I’ve said in person. I am thinking about the times I’ve been offended and hurt.

I am thinking about how I sometimes to struggle to understand your points of view and you struggle to understand mine.

I am thinking about how I want us all to feel safe. I am thinking about how I want us all to belong.

I am thinking about how every single one of us is beloved, made in the image of God, with value and dignity and something to contribute to our communities.

I am thinking about how we all have to live in this country together. I am thinking about how we all get to live in this country together.

I am thinking about how I don’t know how to reconcile all of this.

(I am thinking about how not a single one of those points above is a hypothetical. I am thinking about individual people, with faces and names.)

I am thinking about how this is really, really hard. I am thinking about how I don’t want to give up.

I am thinking about you.

I am thinking about us.