Dear President Trump, I am going to catch a 7am flight to Atlanta tomorrow morning. Laura went on ahead this afternoon to be with her brother and our brother-in-law (BIL) as BIL is failing rapidly. She was at the hospital and we just spoke briefly. She said tomorrow they will start removing the supports that … Continue reading The universal human condition writ small
Love and Compassion
Mortality
Dear President Trump, I’ve not said anything about our brother-in-law (BIL) in over a week because he seemed to be progressing through the different phases of treatment as well as could be expected. It’s been hard for him to stay hydrated but they were managing until Monday night when BIL couldn’t retain any liquids and … Continue reading Mortality
High Alert
Dear President Trump, We did one more writing exercise in the Saturday allyship class. It was to write a first person poem from the perspective of someone we conjured whose life is directly affected by the ‘ism we chose to write a letter to in the previous exercise (see 8/13/18 letter). Several of us read … Continue reading High Alert
Make it so
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I went to a writing class for people who want to become better allies both through their writing and in real time encounters. I left quite humbled and feeling as though I have a lot of remedial work to do. One of the exercises involved writing a manifesto framed by the … Continue reading Make it so
Cruel and usual
Dear President Trump, I’ve decided writing to you and sending us all loving-kindness meditations has become too important to me to let go of yet. Besides, it’s highly likely I would become impossible to be around if I didn’t have these letters as an outlet for my frustration, dismay, and anxiety over what’s going on … Continue reading Cruel and usual
“What keeps you awake at night?”
Dear President Trump, This morning I went by the Christian Cavalry Church near us. They have a huge sign at the edge of their parking lot; it’s black with bold pastel rainbow letters that say “Sweet Dreams” and smaller white letters that ask “What keeps you awake at night?” I immediately started generating my list; … Continue reading “What keeps you awake at night?”
Be careful who you hate
Dear President Trump, By now you should know that I’m someone who actually reads and is often affected by bumper stickers. Part of it is that they are usually short and pithy; easy to digest. More importantly, though, is that someone has chosen to adorn their car with one or more statements that will be … Continue reading Be careful who you hate
It’s so tempting to dehumanize dehumanizers
Dear President Trump, Laura flew to Atlanta last night to be with her brother and our brother-in-law (BIL) for several days. We now know that the bone cancer came from a tumor in one of BIL’s kidneys, but we don’t know yet whether it’s spread elsewhere. He started palliative radiation treatment yesterday for pain and … Continue reading It’s so tempting to dehumanize dehumanizers
The gift of feeling useful
Dear President Trump, I was wondering what you are up to this weekend so I asked Google and the website “Factba.se” told me you are at Trump National Golf Course with no meetings scheduled for another 23 hours and 15 minutes. I was hoping you’d be golfing so we could catch a bit of a … Continue reading The gift of feeling useful
Limits to the benefit of the doubt
Dear President Trump, Typically I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone is behaving badly I imagine what might be driving the behavior – are they tired, stressed, worried, hormonal, having a bad day? I make up some pretty great stories about the woes people are facing to help me let … Continue reading Limits to the benefit of the doubt
Daily Trump Letters 