To say the holidays of 2023 were a blur to me would be somewhat of an understatement. While most of you were out snatching up Christmas shopping bargains, I found myself in the Cheyenne hospital healing from an emergency surgery after my innards decided they didn’t want to work like they had been for the better part of 70 years.  After a total of two trips to Wheatland and Cheyenne and 19 days in the hospital, I’m happy to say all is healed up well and life continues on.  

One thing a lengthy stay in the hospital affords is plenty of time to think. Sleep would have been a welcome relief but if you’ve ever been a patient in a hospital, you know that is merely a wish that is rarely granted. The staff has to have something to do so they spend a lot of time making sure you know they’re there. I must say though, I had wonderful care in Cheyenne and the staff went out of their way to help me get through what were some pretty long and tough hours.  

After a diagnosis in 2022 of chronic kidney disease that put me on the transplant list, I found out what many do when faced with a life-threatening illness—one day can change everything and life is very short when you step back and view the big picture.  

When I was around nine or 10 years old, my very elderly grandmother came to live with us when she could no longer live alone. I recall many card games with her at our kitchen table and listening to her many stories, most of which I can’t truly recall because it was so many years ago. But one thing I have a very vivid memory of was a conversation we had one day about death. At 10, it’s not a subject that comes up very often but having someone that old around on a daily basis made me think about it now and then. So one day, I got the courage up to ask her about death and more specifically, was she afraid to die. She didn’t think long at all and she told me “Heavens no—there are things far worse than death.” As I pondered her answer, we finished our card game and I ran off to play with my friends, wondering what in the world could possibly be worse than dying. I have never forgotten her words but it took me a few years and life experiences to fully understand exactly what she meant. I think I now know.

Since the kidney diagnosis, I’ve had a couple people ask me if I’m scared. To be honest, yes, but I also know now that grandma was really spot on with her answer so many years ago. None of us know when our last day will come and because there’s so much unknown about what follows, I think it’s quite normal to have some trepidation about the situation. But there truly are things worse than dying and unless someone comes up with a viable alternate, we’re all going to get there, sooner or later. And after contemplating 70 years of living, here’s what does scare me.

All of us that are on this planet now that have grown up in the United States have lived within a system that has afforded us great opportunities, great responsibility and the freedom to live our lives as we choose. We were lucky enough to be born in a place that valued those things and in our nearly 200 years of history, many of our ancestors fought and died to make that happen for future generations. As we watched other countries and people struggle to carve out lives under the rule of tyrants like Hitler and Kruschev, we saw the evil that can flourish when someone can convince people that they are the only answer to their problems. Every July Fourth, we celebrated our country’s independence, feeling secure that our way of life and the “blessings of liberty” would be passed on to our children and grandchildren without a second thought. We became complacent and comfortable, assuming that nothing could ever change what we too long took for granted…until now.  

It began somewhat as a joke in 2015 when Donald Trump declared his candidacy to run for president. But what has evolved in the past eight years is no laughing matter and we find ourselves on the brink of losing our democracy to a silver-tongued devil who has absolutely no care or concern for anything or anyone but himself. He was elected because he convinced enough good Americans that he was their knight in shining armor—a savior to all their ills and frustrations to a system that while not perfect, certainly has afforded a good life for generations of Americans. After four years of what can only be described as chaos on a daily basis, our country and our very way of life is in great jeopardy and this man declares once again that he is here to save us. Nothing could be further from the truth—something he is not familiar with because his entire life has been one lie after another—one con job after another.

The alarms have now been sounded by people who spent that first four years working in his administration—the people who worked with him in nearly every aspect of his presidency are begging us to say no to this man because they have seen what many of us couldn’t—he is a dangerous narcissist who has already shown us he believes he is above the law and has no regard for our constitution. Donald Trump has been indicted in four major criminal cases and spent millions in less than a year trying to manipulate the system and use the American people to save him from the prosecution of the crimes he has committed. But he has also charmed his way into the minds of too many people who have turned over their critical thinking to someone who has no regard for anything more than his own glorification and wealth. Over the past four months, he has openly stated what he intends to do if he is elected again—and if he succeeds, the country that you and I grew up in and love will never be the same.

Our next election may very well be our last if we allow this man another term in the White House.

It is up to us to save ourselves—and I am praying that when it’s time to vote in November, more people have taken the time to start thinking seriously about what’s really at stake here. It’s no longer about Democrats and Republicans or seeking retribution for past perceived injustices. This simply comes down to how we want future generations to live—our choice at the ballot box will be the determining factor. We will be responsible for what happens next.

I want to know that my children and grandchildren will grow up in an America that’s proud, strong, honest and allows them the freedoms that we have enjoyed. If we do not subscribe to our constitution and our laws, the way of life we have known and the freedoms we have enjoyed will not survive.

So…am I scared? Yes, but it surely isn’t because I will die someday. Grandma was right. There really are worse things, and I now fully understand what she meant.