Randi Kreiss

Twelfth letter to my grandchildren

Posted

Dear Emi, Elijah, Jacob and Sabrina:

The last time I wrote a “letter to my grandchildren” was in 2008. President Barack Obama had just been elected, and I wanted to etch the moment in our family memory book. At the time you were 6, 2 and 1. Emi, you hadn’t been born yet.

I just re-read that 2008 column. It was full of joy after the election of our first African-American president and hope for the future of our country. Now, I feel whiplash. And you’re all old enough to understand what that means. Just like the time Papa backed the car into a tree with all of you in the backseat. It hurts.

So, kids, listen up. We grownups will keep you safe, but we’re going through a rocky time in our country. And you have to help.

We have a new president who is making bad choices, and he doesn’t seem experienced enough or smart enough to do the job he was elected to do. He also does what every 5-year-old knows is wrong: He makes fun of people.

Presidents come and go. They get elected for one or two terms, and then they step down and make way for the next man or woman. We will get through this time if all of us pay attention and speak up when we see something wrong. But many of us are worried.

Your job is to learn, to go to school and dig in and become responsible citizens of America. Turn off the screens and look at that sentence one more time. As children with the good luck to be born into a good life, I expect you to care for and improve the country we are passing on to you.

Some of the worries I have about the new president are complicated to explain, but there are a few basic rules of being a decent human being that every one of you can understand.

You know you have to tell the truth. You know you have to show respect to other people, no matter where they were born or what color they are, or what religion they follow. You know not to make fun of someone because of what they wear or how they behave.

You must read. If you don’t read books you will grow up to be a know-nothing, and we have enough of those around. Read everything; start with what you just love and then add on. Read magazines and newspapers. If reading is a problem, then listen to books, but keep learning new stuff every day.

Our new president, No. 45, doesn’t read. He doesn’t tell the truth. He makes fun of people with disabilities. I saw this myself during one of his speeches. He is a foolish and insulting man who makes impulsive decisions that sometimes ruin other people’s lives. He is changing many of the regulations that keep our air and water clean. He seems to care only about himself and his kids, and that is a big problem because he was elected to care about all of us in this country.

In 2008, when President Obama was elected, I wrote to you kids, “Much has been said of President-elect Obama’s brilliant and poetic speeches. Many of us . . . have been moved by his words . . . And I want to tell you children that words matter. Education and intelligence and open-mindedness and the ability to speak well do matter. There is no percentage and no virtue in willful ignorance and myopia . . .

“. . .By the time you can read this for yourselves, we will have some idea of the kind of success President Obama enjoyed. In fact, Sabrina, if he remains in office for two terms, until you are 13, he will be the only president you remember.”

And now here we are. The strange thing is that when I wrote about Obama, I couldn’t have imagined that eight years later, we would elect someone who insults girls and women, cheats in his life and his business and cares mostly about being rich and important.

Kids, it feels as if we weren’t paying enough attention during the last election to some of the problems in the country and some of the people who felt so angry; they voted for a wild-card kind of guy. Now we have to live with the results for four years.

That’s why I’m telling you to pay attention and study hard. In just a few years, it will be you who decide who sits in the Oval Office.

In the meantime, remember: Grandma Randi never does fake news.

Copyright © 2017 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.