Tears and Laughter: Democrats, Republicans, and Turkeys

Hopefully, the cold November winds will help create a calming between people after last week’s elections. Maybe the rain will wash away some of the negativity and animosity. It is good that almost half of all of the registered voters in Alabama cared enough to vote in last Tuesday’s election. Maybe by 2020 even more Alabamians will join in the process of steering the state through voting, and with any luck, maybe we will feel less divided.

Because we aren’t. Not really.

Within days our minds will shift toward the season and spirit of Thanksgiving, and our hearts and memories will turn toward home.

Most families all seem to have that one person, usually a middle-aged aunt, who doesn’t seem to be fully content until she stirs up trouble. She stomps in every year, carrying a hot green bean casserole. Her grown children will be marching in behind her. They will all be carrying something she cooked. There are the cocktail wienies in the crockpot, the coconut cake in the Tupperware cake carrier from the 1970s.

There is a gallon of tea, a pickle tray, and a bowl of butterbeans.

An uncle comes through looking like he is already at his wit’s end. He will be balancing a pecan pie in one hand and a sweet potato in the other.

Each grandchild comes in holding a loaf of bread or a bag of sweet rolls. They are swinging them around at the cat and hitting their cousins with them – and already their grandma will have started in on somebody about their hair, weight, or ex-husband.

And if that doesn’t ruffle anybody she will crank up about scant church attendance, people who don’t wash their cars at least once a week, or the latest losing football team.

She keeps on until somebody begins to yell uncontrollably, threatens to disown the entire family, or goes out in the night air to stand by their truck and start drinking.

By then, of course, she is all apologies, but it is too late because the other person is mad and scheming their comeback.

That is how we have all become with politics. We get to volleying back and forth the differences. Republicans say Democrats are too far to the left and want to turn the United States into a socialist country. Democrats say Republicans are bad, Trump is worse, and most registered voters in Alabama are crazy.

Both sides have their points – some valid, some exaggerated, some inaccurate. But outside of those points, we are pretty much all alike.

We love our children the same and want a better future for them. We value our communities. We cherish our friends and help our neighbors.

This time of year it is tradition to invite many to our tables as we pause for a moment of gratitude. We, by our very nature, want everyone – even those who may be strangers to us, but without family or with no place to go – to be included. We may be passionate about our politics, but Alabamians should not be so much defined as being blue or red. Define us instead by our hospitality, our generosity, and our ability to turn a simple shared meal into a healing memory.

Amanda Walker is a blogger and contributor with AL.com, The Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Wilcox Progressive Era. Contact her at walkerworld77@msn.com or at  https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist