5:00 a.m. – Gary woke up happy. It has been two years since I’ve seen him this optimistic. I got caught up in his enthusiasm and went along with his scheme go to the poll as soon as possible, which for us was:
5:50 a.m. – We were about 100th in line. I had to reprove him for “campaigning” at the polling place (he was killing time in line by trashing Trump). I had to point out the sign that says “NO POLITICAL MESSAGING OR ATTIRE IN THE VOTING PLACE.” He agreed to zip his hoodie over his RESIST T-shirt.
6:10 a.m. – Gary again engaged another person in line in a political conversation and discovered she was very anti-Trump. He coyly unzipped his hoodie and exposed his RESIST T-shirt, just to her.
6:40 a.m. – We were done voting. Gary unzipped his hoodie entirely and we had breakfast out.
5:00 p.m. – At some point during the day, Gary realized his left big toe was numb. He had missed a dose of his B-12. We both agreed it was, in a way, good to know that the B-12 is doing what it should. The focus to get his B-12 drew his attention away from the election. In fact, he missed the first half hour of coverage because he was at the Walgreens getting his drug. Based on the last 24 months I would have bet he’d sacrifice his left big toe for a chance to watch democracy in action, but it looks like his priorities are in order.
10:00 p.m. – The evening was punctuated with shrieks for each Democratic senator who lost. For a few minutes I thought it was 2016 again – Gary was in utter despair. But, he was encouraged as the House flipped in the blue wave the blue flash flood.
10:54 p.m. – Sigh. Claire McCaskill just conceded to Josh Hawley. So, no Senatorial checks and balances from Missouri, then. And my congresswoman will stay the same: she was not even knocked off balance by the gentle lapping of the blue ripple.
I ate grapes, KFC chicken strips, and diet popcorn. It’s a mixed bag, given the mixed results.