YOU MAY SAY I'M A DREAMER BUT I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE in 2018

I didn't know what I would be doing after I retired. I imagined some volunteering, writing, consulting, and meeting new friends. I wanted to live close to my daughter and grandson, so I drove from Florida to Seattle with my dog and brother.  

A year in Seattle was enough for me to abhor spending nine months out of the year in drizzly weather with very little sunshine and daylight that lasted for about four hours. Three months of beautiful sunshine, hiking in the splendor of the Cascades, and being surrounded by like-minded folks were not going to keep me in Seattle. My grandchildren were still a priority, so I made plans to move to the Texas Hill Country for the more significant part of the year while flying back frequently to spend time with the grandbabies. 

The drive across the country from Seattle to Texas in the latter part of October two years ago was eye-opening. While polls and news sources predicted a Hillary landslide, you wouldn't know it by the thousands of Trump signs dotting the countryside through a dozen states. I sensed trouble ahead. November 8, 2016, confirmed the dreadful feeling in my gut that Trump would win--a man who embodied everything I disliked about bigoted, entitled white men. My career and personal life were filled with men like him. Men who had power over me because of their gender and race often didn't have the intelligence to be in their positions but were there because they were white and had testicles. I resented the hell out of them. Most women, like me, who were fiercely independent and somewhat successful in their careers, have the same perspective. Women who have depended on men financially are more likely to buy into white male dominance and support Trump.

Within a few months of moving to Llano County, I found a townhouse to buy in Horseshoe Bay. As providence would have it, my daughter accepted a career-boosting position in Austin shortly before I closed on my house. She subsequently moved 40 miles from me. There would be no more trips to Seattle.

Even though I lived out of the state for 15 years, the Texas I returned to wasn't the same state I left. I soon discovered that hard-liner Tea Party Republicans had overrun Texas. A new friend once used the word "nigger." She never uttered it in my presence after that because I told her our friendship would end if that word escaped from her lips one more time. My goodwill toward her changed that day as she showed me who she was. One day, a friend of hers expressed no sadness when a fire destroyed an apartment building in London, killing hundreds of Muslims. Her response was, "I don't care how they leave. They need to be gone." I was incredulous, as she was the office administrator of a US Congressman (Republican) and a so-called Christian. The majority of the people I encountered in the new Texas lacked compassion. How in the world do people change their core values from compassion and empathy to greed, racism, bigotry, and hate in 15 years, or were negative traits always lurking in the shadows like gremlins turning into monsters after getting wet? Did Trump pour water over their heads?

After I moved into the townhouse, I discovered that the majority of the citizens in my town were wealthy Republicans. I instinctively knew that none of them would ever be good friends. The Republicans of today and I do not share fundamental values. Soon, I discovered Highland Lakes Democratic Women, an organization that meets monthly for lunch. I started attending their meetings and happy hours. I soon formed friendships with several of the members.

After living in the county for approximately six months, I attended the Llano County Democratic Club meeting. I was elected the County Party Chair a few months after the initial meeting.

We have worked nonstop over the past year to encourage Democrats to vote. Many women involved in our efforts were energized to become politically active after Trump was elected. We started connecting with each other like magnets sticking to the metal. We learned complicated and frustrating computer systems, but we worked together past our dismay and were successful. We organized town hall breakfasts with candidates and knocked on nearly 1000 doors. We marched for gun control and women's rights. We addressed postcards to encourage voting and sent letters to the editor and our Congressional representatives. We are warriors. We're fighting to take back our country.

I have formed deep friendships this past year. We accomplished more than our county Democratic Party has ever achieved in one year. Despite being a small group of Democratic women in a county with an overwhelming majority of Republicans, we did it. We grew closer because we were furious about the vile tweets, lies, and policies spewing forth by the President and his fellow mobsters daily. We're enraged at the complicit congress. 

After the initial shock of moving to an area loaded with people who seemed foreign to me, I found deep, lasting friendships. I know whom I can count on, and they know I have their backs. We're in this together. Oh, we won't be finished in November or even in 2020. The damage that's already been done will take years to undo. We will keep at it. As the Democratic candidate for Agricultural Commissioner, Kim Olsen, says, "Hold my purse. Watch this!"

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

                                

                              (Lennon)