We have made it through to summer. I think we can all agree the past few months have been nothing short of confusing and chaotic. And, in the last week, amid a pandemic, our country is going to war with itself.

I understand you are tired of being cooped up with your family in your home, but think of the time you had with them that you may not otherwise be able to enjoy. Think of how Mother Earth was able to take a breath, and enjoy a partial break to the strain we are putting on our environment and our climate, and think of how many children’s lives have been saved because school shootings could not occur.

That said, the shootings and deaths that have occurred over the past few months have been horrible, deeply depressing, and hard to wrap around. It is advantageous to live in a time when a video can be taken at a moment’s notice to capture the truth in the craziness. (It makes you wonder what happened to our neighbors, our fellow Americans before the technology was available.) Watching peaceful protests turn into riots is understandable. When you shout at the top of your lungs, and you still can’t be heard, you have to protest.

I am constantly singing the lyrics to Hamilton these days, as the entire basis for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant score is the unrest the colonies of America felt towards their king and government because they were not being heard. Everything our forefathers fought for in the 1700’s we are still fighting for today, the right to be heard, the right to vote, the right to protest, the right to fight for justice.

The beauty of being an American is that we are free. Our freedoms are not based on the color of your skin or the place you come from. These are our civil liberties, our most basic rights. I am no better than you, and you are no better than me. Hatred has no place in our lives. Now is the time to come together, find peace while demanding justice, and remember that love is love and love. It is exhausting to find the light at the end of the tunnel all the time, but we have to, it is another part of who we are as Americans.

I will go back to the joyful musings of which wine to drink tonight. But for now, hug your kids, hug your spouse, hug your dog, don’t hug your fish, and know we are all in this together, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the glass is half full….of really good wine.