Dear Democracy,
We had a good run.
You were there for me 24/7 during my 60 years as a United States citizen. You didn’t ask much of me except to show up to vote every couple of years, which, of course, I did. And frankly, beyond the whole voting thing, I did not give you a lot of thought. I just figured you would always be there. OK, I am embarrassed to admit it, but I took you for granted.
You were really A-M-A-Z-I-N-G back in the day! You took great care of my grandparents, and my great aunts and uncles when they showed up at the turn of the last century. When they first arrived they could not have been much to look at….no fancy college degrees and a really strange language. But somehow you saw through all that; you saw their potential when no one else did. They built successful careers and founded businesses, paid their taxes, learned English, and sent their children to college. They voted.