Dear President Trump,

We’re in Santa Barbara getting our daughter settled in at college this weekend. It’s been a long emotional couple of days. Fortunately, she got to move in this afternoon and is mostly unpacked, but she’s going to stay with us tonight and so we’re bracing ourselves for when we drop her off tomorrow and say goodbye. Her official move in time was supposed to be tomorrow morning and we all said repeatedly today that we can’t imagine how we would have been able to do it all if we’d to wait until then. Really, it would have felt awful to just load all her stuff from the car into the big move-in bins and have to say goodbye to start the drive home. We wouldn’t have been able to help her or fetch random things she needed or anything. I’m so glad the dorm folks weren’t rigid about the assigned schedule and that everyone was helpful and friendly. They seem to have this down to a science and still have it all feel really human and warm.

My daughter and I flew here yesterday (Laura drove the laden car down) and when the taxi driver dropped us off at the Airbnb he told us that Oprah lives just up the street (though our actual place is a small studio and probably isn’t as nice as Oprah’s tool shed). This morning I started wondering how it would be to have a president who everyone knows by just her first name. I mentally tried on President Oprah and President Winfrey and both felt kind of awkward, but I decided that I could get used to President Winfrey. I could also easily get used to President Warren or President Harris or President Booker.

You know, I’m still not used to having to refer to you as “President Trump” even after writing to you for 587 days and using these words in the salutation every time. It all still feels like a nightmare. A friend told me the other day though, about the person who held the “tick tock motherf*cker” sign up in front of the White House the day Manafort said he would cooperate with Mueller. As a rule, I really strongly dislike the term “mother*cker” and I wish it has been “tick tock asshole” or “tick tock dickhead” or something like that, but the point is that there’s growing hope that we aren’t going to have to say “President Trump” too much longer, and that will be a glorious day to be sure.

May we be safe when we make big changes.
May we be willing to let go when it’s time.
May we be healthy and strong in the face of uncertainties.
May your life unfold and intersect peacefully (as in do not start a war).

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson