I woke up to the color of angry red in early November and the loud words of the debates were still ringing in my ears. I wanted to stay in bed but my teenage daughter is rushing me to get out the door, and my son is eating a bowl of Cheerios in the kitchen and people in our country want change and my kids don't have another ride to school.

Although I drove my kids to school the morning after, it was my kids who I followed as they pulled me out of the fog into the light of day as they have every day since losing their dad. With every day we put one foot in front of the other, I know it is in the moments I am brave enough to explore the darkness that I begin to put together the strewn bits and pieces and see tiny shimmers of my new world.

Later that evening on the drive home with my kids, I imagined our headlights guided us past our home and beyond. We drove through the broken landscapes calling for change on the interstates and highways and city streets and alleyways and backroads and backyards from sea to shining sea because we want to understand.

We pass purple mountains and as we look upwards to their majesty, we bow to the soul of our country that I know has to be somewhere. It too is strewn in bits and pieces, but I am not giving up my dream that somehow we can move towards united where we will begin to see tiny shimmers of America the Beautiful again.

I Have A Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.