This Week Had Ups and Downs!

It’s Impossible to Say: It Was Not About Me This Week.

This week was one of the most difficult in my life.
Integrity was on the line for me this week.

This week has not been one of my finest moments.

My temperament was most assuredly depressed at best. It had nothing to do with political parties. It had everything to do with one man. That man’s personality is my father’s mirror image, and that’s not a good thing for me.

How can it be that nearly half the nation still believes a man has the right to grab a woman (or young girl) anywhere and anytime he wishes?

Why do we still look the other way when those who profess to be so worthy continue to use the “N” word to describe people of color?

Who can still share a cup of Joe with someone who agrees that children of immigrants have no rights in this country and should be caged like a wild animal?

When will we ever stand up and fight for our right to clean air and water?

Where do we go now when we feel unsafe?

I Remember My History This Week

In the ’80s and ’90s, I worked in the field of commercial credit. Part of my job required me to do training sessions for bankers on how to spot commercial risk. It was easy because I grew up with one of the biggest commercial credit risks in our small town’s history.

There were two examples I used for the folks at Wells Fargo and US Bank. One was a con artist I had a long track record with. The story and how I involved the FBI had everyone in the training room at attention.

The second one was a real estate tycoon in New York City who would become President of the United States one day. As part of the information I shared with the attendees were numerous interviews with vendors: small businessmen and women who are so very much like you and me.

The stories they told of not only losing their businesses due to the bankruptcy claims of this man tore my heart out. Many had also lost their families and homes.

I no longer have any of that information. It was all developed on company time, and I returned every single file to the company when I retired. There have been many days I’ve wished I’d made copies to keep for myself.

It was no surprise when the word was out that he eventually had to find money outside of the U.S.

My Father’s Presence Was Unbearable This Week

Every time the President opened his mouth for the past four years, I heard my father speaking (without all the added expletives).

Time and time again, I could anticipate his every move. I know how he thinks.

The President preens his comb-over to make himself attractive to the women; my father spent hours preening his wavy hair to perfection.

No woman was ever safe around my father…not even his seven-year-old daughter. What kind of man believes he has every right to do whatever he wishes? I feel ill when I see the video clip of the President saying he’d date Ivanka when she got a bit older if she weren’t his daughter.

This Week Has Not Been About Politics

For me, it has always been about integrity, justice, compassion, and equality.

When we moved to Minnesota and went to register to vote, they demanded that I declare that I was either a Republican or a Democrat. I told them I was neither. They then declared I was an Independent. Firmly, I disagreed. That didn’t make them happy either. I stated that I was an American citizen and wished to register to vote. Eventually, they won. I had to pick one, but it still makes me sad that I couldn’t declare my citizenship only.

For me this week, it was all about seeing my father in the White House for another four years.

This week felt like a referendum on whether money speaks louder than character. My father flaunted his wealth at every opportunity. The truth was that he moved money from bank to bank every single week. Back in those days without computers, his shenanigans never caught up to him. The only one who never loaned him money was the local bank. They knew him and his tactics far too well to put themselves at such risk. He played with other people’s money…never his own.

I felt this week was a judgment on my worth as a woman and a citizen. It has been nearly unbearable. All I can say is that I’ve voted for as many Republicans as Democrats in my lifetime. My vote was always based on the person’s integrity and whether or not I felt they would work hard for the people.

There is one thing I can honestly give my father credit for: The WWII and Korean Conflict veteran who ruled over our home and community would have never turned his back on our Allies.

E Pluribus Unum – Latin for “Out of many, one.” 

 

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2 thoughts on “This Week Had Ups and Downs!

  1. It’s been a tumultuous, divisive four years and a nail-biting 2020 election, Peggy. I feel bad that unhappy memories of your dad surface and hope you can get some peace now. I also hope our country can come together, so we can get through Covid and trouble times better as united citizens.

    • Thank you for your compassion, Cat. I was truly blindsided by my mental and physical reactions this week. The past four years felt like my father had returned from the dead to haunt me. The thought of possibly another four years watching this man mock everything I believe in was overpowering.

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