Election Day
November 5, 2024
As the weekend ended, we headed into the final countdown. We were so excited. Crazy news stories had us on a roller coaster of emotions - polling in Iowa looks disastrous?! No wait, they’ve got it all wrong. Things might be actually ok… pray harder. We went to bed Monday night on pins and needles. It felt like Christmas Eve. Brian was still in Pennsylvania and would fly back the next day.
Tuesday morning finally dawned - Election Day! Unbelievable that all the work of the past year was on the line and soon we would know the outcome. I was ready with my MAGA red nails!
Tuesday mornings, I teach catechesis at the girls’ school, so I headed there in my American flag sweater and earrings. All day, eager texts were flying back and forth among our family and friends - lots of funny memes, and lots of prayers, including novenas that could be said every hour for 9 hours.
The boys didn’t have school because their school was a polling place (since when is that a thing? I remember going to school at a polling place and just having to navigate around all the flags and booths and old people.) So they got a head start on decorations and activities for the evening. The kids were planning to watch coverage and have a party at home, but Brian and I were going to a nearby restaurant for a party with friends and business associates. I offered to decorate there too and had fun putting together some patriotic centerpieces.
Politics is a real family affair at our house, what can I say? We go all in. It’s more educational and fun that way! Count up the electoral votes and color in the states, kids! Be creative, make your best signs! Some kids play house, ours play Republican debate.
I picked up Brian at the airport and we went straight to vote. I know, I know, we should’ve voted early. Things are definitely shifting that way. But we got it done and got our all-important stickers. Sam went a little later - his first time voting!
A little girl so glad to see her daddy and match (sort of) hats.
Our Election night party was terrific - everyone was just in the best hopeful mood, and we enjoyed delicious food and drinks and pretty flowers, if I do say so myself. We had tvs running Fox News and CNN, but we were having too much fun talking and weren’t glued to the tvs. I didn’t even notice that Brian stepped out and went in a stairwell to join the Loopcast for a while. It was a great night, although not an early one. Things looked good early on, but of course we were all nervous that the rug would be pulled out from under us like 2020. So we felt compelled to see it through and stay til the numbers were conclusive. When they called it for Trump, we laughed, we cried, we toasted, we danced…The poor waitstaff at our restaurant… I think we were supposed to have the room until 11 or so and they let us stay later to keep watching. They finally kicked us out laughing at 1:30 am and we high-fived them all on our way out the door. What great Americans!
I took this photo at 12:55 am. We listened to the rest of Trump’s victory speech on the radio on the way home and then collapsed into bed exhausted but giddy with happiness and relief.