Not many people know this about me, but I have a speech delay. I worked with a speech therapist when I was in first and second grade and throughout elementary and middle school to work around those times when my mouth can’t catch up with my brain (because that’s how it feels, that my mouth can’t form the words that my brain wants). I recognize it now when I’m in mixed company or when I am nervous speaking publicly. I pause for long periods, I stumble over what I’m saying, it’s rare now but it still happens.
Today, a man with a severe stutter got sworn in as President. Biden grew up in a time when there were little to no resources to help with that sort of thing. I honestly didn’t even know it was something he dealt with until his Presidential run. Why am I saying this? Because, it makes me sad how often he’s referred to being on the border of dementia because of how he speaks, because I’m over the moon to have a president that has compassion after four years of a man that didn’t display any sort of compassion for anything.
It feels amazing to feel hopeful. Trump didn’t always make me feel awful, his inauguration day, I didn’t feel like the world was ending, I gave him a chance. Over the course of the last four years, he made me less and less proud of this country, he brought to light a lot of the ugly in people, he divided this country in an unprecedented way. Trump gave Biden the nickname “Sleepy Joe” because of how he speaks, because he has to carefully choose his words because of a “weakness”…..and that in a nutshell is everything that exemplifies Trump.
I’m glad he’s fucking gone. I’m celebrating compassion. I’m celebrating tolerance. I’m celebrating healing and I hope that for everyone.
Written by Magen Curtis