Hope

Hope is not a necessarily a good word. You can hope, in a passive manner, for many things. And in that, it's even more passive than "wish" and in some ways, probably less likely to be achieved. Yet, it is powerful. It can enable us to withstand assaults against our dignity and body. It can make us stronger than without, but why?

I am still not sure but I think I am beginning to understand. Last week, America elected her first black President. I am told that he represents Hope for all people, not just blacks. And I look over at my daughter who does not care at this moment who the President is, or what his race is. But all the same, I look to her and wonder... Will she be the President of the United States some day? I admit, it is not impossible. I can hope, if I would hope for such a thankless job for my daughter.

I would not even have thought of it before last November 4th. Without even thinking about it, I had excluded it from things my daughter, a natural born American citizen of two naturalized Asians, could one day be.

Hope represents possibilities. It unlocks doors that you had not known were existed. And even if you do not eventually walk through them, the fact that you can, if you wish, if you want, if you try, is liberating. It gives such vibrancy and color to the word I had previously considered ambivalent. I hope now. More for my daughter than for myself, and I love that I can.