I cried as I watched Joe Biden being sworn in
as president by Chief Justice John Roberts. (By the way, it is the same oath
that one takes when they enlist in the armed forces.)
My reaction was not political. I felt empathy for a man who started life
stuttering and being bullied. His family was very lower middle class. They
lived paycheck to paycheck. He struggled to get through law school. Then his
career took off when he took a giant risk and ran for US senate. At age 29 he
was a US senator. Then his wife and infant daughter were killed when a drunk
driver in a truck hit their car. His most-beloved son died of brain cancer at
age 46. I could go on.
50 years ago, if you came into my father's bedroom, you would notice his
dresser. It was empty except for a set of three paperback books. It was Carl
Sandburg's Lincoln. Dad loved this country. He thought that the best part of
this country was that a person could start in most humble circumstances and do
great things. Joe Biden proved this again.
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