Voting with John
On election night, I want to share this John John story with you. It’s a little lengthy so please bare with me. I’ll do my best to get to the point! I hope it warms your heart and makes you laugh!
I took John to vote yesterday. I’d be lying if I said John was all sunshine and roses. Sometimes he’s downright frustrating and yesterday was no exception. It started with me calling him the day before and asking him if he wanted to vote early on Sunday (I knew he would!). So I told him "I'll pick you up at 11:30 am. You, me, Katie and Chris are all going to vote early." The two most important things I said to him was “Make sure you bring your ID and a mask.”
He called me at 10:45 am on Sunday to tell me he was "all ready to go." I said, "Ok, what time did I tell you I'd be there?" He said, "11:00" I said, "No John, I said 11:30. I'll be there by then and don't wait outside for me...it's pouring rain." At 11:20 I was getting in the car after spending the morning at two grocery stores, getting my groceries for the week. I called him and said, "I'm on my way. I'll be there in 10 minutes." I get to his house and there he is, outside at the end of his driveway. Just. UGH!
I get home to unload the groceries, and while I was doing that, he eats some leftover Halloween candy and he says, "Uh oh" and spits out a piece of his tooth. By now I'm pretty frustrated and ready to just get this over with so I ask him, "Are you ready to go? Do you have your mask?" Guess what? He forgot the mask. So, I hooked him up with one and off we went. On the way there, knowing that the ballot could confuse him...I said, “John I cannot help you at the voting place. I can’t because people would think I’m telling you who to vote for...so you have to do this yourself. All you have to do is fill in the bubble next to the persons name you want to vote for.” He said ok....but I knew this was going to be difficult for him. Now....he has voted in many, many elections. John has a voice too and wants to use it and we’ve tried to teach him to self advocate as much as possible and voting is one of the many ways he can. But I still think he likes the “pull the lever” method.
So. We get there, I get my ballot...John gets his and sits near me but far enough away. I fill mine out, submit and leave. I told him “I’ll meet you outside”. I could see he was trying to take it all in and figure it out. I went outside to my car, my daughter Katie went in to vote and comes out...and still no sign of John. Finally, my son Chris comes out and says “we have a problem. John voted for two people on his ballot.” I said, “there’s nothing I can do. The people working the polls will have to help him.”
Finally, he comes out...and said “they gave me a new one (*ballot). “ I said “how did you vote for two people?” He said, “I voted for Trump and Biden”. I said , “why did you do that?” He said, “I don’t know. I fixed it. I voted for....(you can guess here. I’ll respect his choice and privacy.) By the time I was done with all this I was spent. As I said, at times he is exhausting and frustrating. I dropped him off home and later.........
Did you ever feel like God whispers in your ear??? Do your ever feel like God opens your eyes to see things like He does? I did....today.
I know why John voted for two people. Because John doesn’t see the bad in anyone. ANYONE!!!!!! He would do nothing to be disparaging or cruel. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. I can get in his mind sometimes (scary, I know!!!) and I know that’s what he was thinking. No. Matter. What. John sees the good in everyone, even if there’s not much good to be seen. He doesn’t want anyone to be the “looser”.
And so I felt like God opened my eyes yet again...and I am so thankful He does that for me so I can see with purity and innocence like John does. And I felt like God whispered in my ear...”could you imagine if the whole world saw things as John does? What a world it would be....” Now wait. Here’s the FUNNY part. He asked Chris as he was voting ....”can I vote for a new governor??” so his one exception is Cuomo. He sees him very differently and I think he’d happily vote him gone..... I am so blessed as a sister. I hope you see the world like John does. It’s beautiful.
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