I barely slept last night.
Not for lack of trying.
I went to bed and woke up 2 hours later with a fully developed cold. The same one that my husband has been nursing all weekend.
Joy.
I don’t normally get the same illnesses he does. Must be the stress of the last several months.
When I went to bed last night, the midterm election results weren’t fully in. I did not expect them to be but some races had already been called. Including the North Carolina senate race.
When I woke up with a cough I decided I would get up and take myself to the living room so my husband could sleep as he had to be at work at 1100. Dot came too. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she came along.
I checked in with the election results and I was stunned to see the progress that had been made/.
Races were being called all over the place. Races that a month ago no one thought would turn blue. Races that a month ago no one had even a prayer of turning blue.
I got myself something to drink and settled in to watch history unfold.
It was amazing.
It was humbling.
It was as if I hadn’t been alone in the last 24 months since the 2024 election.
I felt seen.
I allowed myself a moment of elation and then the words “Work’s not done” came to mind.
Because the work isn’t done.
There is still so much to do and focus on. So many fires that this administration had been fanning over that same 24 months have to be stamped out.
No, the work is not done.
There are the poison pills that the “big beautiful bill” set out for the winners of the midterm elections. Things like further restrictions and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits and higher prices for healthcare.
So many little fires.
We can’t get to work on stamping them out yet. But we can start planning on the approach to putting them out.
No, the work is not done but I feel more hopeful than I did twenty four hours ago.
After all, a nurse isn’t afraid of hard work.
But before we roll up our sleeves and plunge back into the fray, it is okay to give ourselves a moment to breathe.
A moment to marvel.
We did that.
