10 November 2016

Greetings from Urbana Illinois, USA. - Feast of St. Leo the Great
     I had a good flight from Mombasa and reached our family home at 5pm last night local time (4am on 10th Nov EAT in Kenya).  My brother, two sisters and my mother were all here and we had supper together with some food brought to us by a friend from church.  There is a lot of food in our house from so many good friends and we are very grateful.  When my brother comes from Washington DC with his family on Friday our family will be all together again.
     It is now 3am (Noon EAT)  10th November and I have awoken in jet lag. It is a good time to reconnect and let everyone know I have arrived safely.  Today we will meet with the priest who will concelebrate at the funeral, Fr. Remm.  He has retired officially but knew Dad for over 30 years as well as the family and has been a wonderful pastor through thick and thin.  The funeral will be at 11 am on Saturday, with condolences in the church beginning at 10am.  My father was cremated and his remains will be interred at the Catholic church cemetery in Kentland Indiana with his parents, siblings and other family members from the homestead and farm.
     On the way home I followed the election of the President as best I could.  When we landed in Heathrow the Belgian man next to me opened his phone and saw that Trump had won Florida and Ohio.  That was when I knew he would be the next president.  Once I got through all the security checks and arrived at the final gate I sat down in front of a TV with other Americans watching the news.  Trump had only 5 more electoral votes to win.  The man to my right was from Georgia, white and in his forties.  He was announcing his happiness saying, "That bitch would have killed my son." (I later learned that his son was in the military and took a bullet to his neck and complained that the military didn't have what they needed to do 'the job'.) I just listened.  He went on to say that Hilary is a criminal and should be locked up.  I said we have a good judicial system and they can take her to court.
     He owns 11 guns and has 6000 rounds of ammunition. His wife carries a concealed gun.  He was angry that Obama only visited Georgia for one day in 8 years, saying that Obama didn't think that Georgia was good enough to give them more time.  I agreed with him that Obama should have found more time to spend in that state.  He spent more time in Kenya than one day in eight years.  The man on my left was of Pakistani origin who lives in Wisconsin who voted for Trump as well.  He was not saying much.
     As we sat, the other five electoral votes came in and it was announce that Trump had won.  Clinton called him to concede.  I reminded them that Trump had said the elections were rigged but neither made any comments.  At this point I had only listened and hadn't given my view but was becoming emotional, in part because of the sadness of my father's death.  I told them how hurt I felt when Trump used vulgar language about women and called it "locker room banter".  I asked them if they, and my brothers, brothers in law, nephews and other men in the US talk so disrespectfully about women when they are in the locker room.  The Pakistani man looked at me and said he was sorry.  The man from Georgia said that he was brought up in the Bible belt and was taught that even if you think those things you don't say them out loud.   I turned to him and said, "I will respect Trump as our president.  We have to live together in this country and we have to talk to one another.  I have listened to you and I hope that one day you will listen to me.  He continued to explain all of the hate and anger that he felt and I could see that he could not see my pain and was not ready to listen to me. I would say that all of us are hurting in some way and we have a lot of work to do to acknowledge our feelings and then be able listen to others and start talking about it.
     For you in the US who fear deportation and for you abroad who are wondering what will happen I say, "Be not afraid".  Those were the words of advice from our Kenyan Archbishop in his condolences to me.  They didn't help with my father's death because our family is at peace and grateful that Dad is with God and no longer suffering. But I remembered them when I was feeling very sad and depressed after these conversations.  We, as Americans, have to learn and grow from our challenges and disappointments.  It will cause suffering, and innocent suffering, especially for people far removed from our country.  Innocent suffering was what I saw every day in South Sudan and I still see it in Kenya. I hope to be one of the people in this world who will listen more and try to reconcile our differences peacefully.
     For the next several days I will be away from the computer and with my family.  Our whole family feels the love, support and prayers that join you together with us and we are grateful.  And for our father, Thomas, may he rest in eternal peace knowing now, full well, the depth of God's love for him.