When I’m at work I sing. It gives me strength during difficult times, and I believe it helps heal. — Lori Marie Key
I don’t know if you all watched the very moving and long overdue Memorial for the more than 400,000 American’s who have died. I did and it seems that this service broke the dam. I cried and once I started, I just could not stop. It felt like all the months of living on the edge of “what next” created a torrent of tears. But there was hope in those tears! It felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Thank you, Lori Marie Key, for giving me hope (and releasing the floodgates!)
But the tears did not stop on Tuesday night… they continued on into Wednesday. I have watched a few inaugurations, but Wednesday was more emotional and I cried lots. I wept with joy and sadness when Kamala was sworn in. Joy because YES, a WOMAN! But I also thought about how it must have felt for Hillary… bittersweet. And President Biden’s speech will absolutely go down in the history books as one of the greatest Inaugural Addresses ever.
But let’s talk for a minute about the hope that Amanda Gorman filled me with…a shining beacon of hope! Her entire poem was moving, but the ending was a clarion call for me. (you can read The Hill We Climb here)
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left, with every breath from my bronze, pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one, we will rise from the golden hills of the West, we will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution, we will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked South, we will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful, when the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.
I have not be able to get enough of Amanda since Wednesday and I stumbled across these video’s – a treasure trove of brilliance! This poem really stood out to me… especially since 1/6.
And finally, Bernie. Who knew that he and his mittens would bring such laughter (and inside that laughter…hope!)
There have been *hundreds* of memes but my favorites are in this Twitter thread from local photographer Dave DiCello:
I didn’t want to do the Bernie thing. I didn’t. But I also had too many ideas as soon as I saw the meme to ignore it. Tried to do a little more than just plopping him into random scenes around #Pittsburgh, and these were fun to do. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/eItLMovASN
— Dave DiCello (@DaveDiCello) January 22, 2021
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here next week!
The memorial was LONG overdue, and President Biden has said we will be over 500,000 deaths by next month. But at least now we’ve got a strategy, and though there will many more tears of sadness, we’ll also have tears of joy. Hope has been much easier to find since Wednesday!
So much hope and Amanda Gorman – WOW!!!!!
This past week so much hope rose up! I can see it and feel it, a new beginning. But, I can’t sit by and just soak it up, need to remember and work the progressive agenda forward. The work has really only started, the awakening happened these past four horrible years, now lets continue with the hard stuff called, WORK! Get involved, stay involved, grass root movements have proven to work!
I think we’ll all be in tears for a few more days yet. It really was like a dam broke, I didn’t truly understand how much I was holding my breath until the tears came.
The memorial, the inauguration ceremonies — everything was tear-worthy with a gracious side order of hope.
Have a lovely weekend Kat!
Out of the mouths of babes . . .
Talk about a hope-filled Friday post! I’m with you on that floodgate. I cried during Obama’s inauguration. And Bush’s. For very different reasons. But this one, of course, was in a class all its own. And for loads of reasons. Plenty of reasons even IF we weren’t ushering you-know-who out the door. So many reasons all on their own to cry good tears. I think you nailed it–we didn’t know how long we’d been ‘managing.’ Holding ourselves together. Until we didn’t really have to anymore. My kids asked me when I’m going to take the Biden-Harris campaign sign out of my bedroom window. (It faces our Olde Town village–so, lots of visibility.) The answer is–I really don’t know! I’m just kinda so thrilled.
Happy weekend to you, Kat. Thanks for all these rich clicks here today. Off to listen now!
The whole two days were so incredible, I cried and cried like you tears of joy and some for the sorrow of all we have lost the last four years including over 400,000 people. Each ceremony was so incredible, each word spoken, each word sung, the silence the joy, just so amazing. I heard Bernie interviewed about his memes and he laughed about it all. Very fun. Stay safe.
Everything about this inauguration filled me with hope. As a friend of mine said to me, the grown ups are in charge again – thank goodness for that!
Part of me can’t help but wonder how much different this pandemic would have played out with Hilary as president (or, really, any intelligent, caring human). We can’t undo the damage that’s been done or bring back the people we’ve lost, but I at least feel better knowing that actual doctors and public health professionals are in charge now. It brought so much joy to my heart just to see the happy expression on Dr. Fauci’s face yesterday!
The local Bernie memes are really great. Did you see the one of him sitting at Ritter’s Diner?
Last week was SO hopeful. There’s so much left to be done and there’s hope that we’re moving in the right direction (finally!).
I don’t want to be too repetitive, but I’m also in awe of Amanda Gorman – we’re so lucky to be able to hear her voice right now.
And Bernie. Bringing the New England snugglies wherever he goes. Ha!
the Bernie meme has been a breath of fresh air for my brain. I’m making mittens for my husband in honor of the meme.