My son asked if I wanted to speak this weekend.
He and his fiancée are getting married, and we’re traveling to Mackinaw Island, Michigan, for a small ceremony for the immediate family. The reception will come next month in Catonsville.
It’s how kids are doing it these days.
I know I should say something about the optimism of a new beginning, the joy of a marriage and the truth that inevitable hard times ahead will be easier because the two of them can share the burden.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
In the age of Donald Trump, though, I’ll admit to not feeling very optimistic. Every day is another presidential outrage, another attack on things I value, and one more reminder that mean is the currency of America and needless cruelty its coin.
What a time to start a new chapter, to commit to love and a future together.
I found some inspiration, of all places, on a rainy morning at the Annapolis Senior Activity Center, where U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks was visiting.
“I want you to continue to feel optimistic,” the Democrat told a crowd of about 50 seniors and officials. “And I know that sounds really crazy, given everything that we’re seeing, but I think it is the goal of the people in this administration to demoralize you.”
I wasn’t expecting this.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Alsobrooks is five months into office, barely enough time to figure out where the nearest bathrooms are on Capitol Hill. The Democrats are flailing for relevance as the minority party, and most days, it seems they might never find their way back into power.
She’s on a sweep across the state, meeting constituents in her “expanded neighborhood.”
If you’ve never been to a drop-in, they can be dreadful. People share genuine concerns, like rising rents or cuts to veterans’ benefits.
Just as often, they talk about things they barely understand. No, student loan debt forgiveness would not excuse someone who bought a car with the money.
There are outbursts.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“Senator Alsobrooks! How can you claim to care for any part of our community, but you keep giving endless money to Israel?” a woman shouted from the side of the room. “What are you doing to stop this? This is unending military support!”
“I’m sorry,” Teresa Baker said. “It was my turn.”
“I know it was! OK?” the woman shouted back. “People are being killed every single day in Israel. I am speaking out of turn, because this is very important!”
Alsobrooks didn’t engage in verbal jujitsu with the woman before she stormed out, but the senator has the Washington pugilism part down.
She joined Democrats this month in giving Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a verbal beating for being a quack and a liar.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“That man is as wild as a rabbit,” said Alsobrooks, a former prosecutor and county executive in Prince George’s. “I think he should resign or be fired.”
This hourlong chat was the first time I’ve seen why she defeated former Gov. Larry Hogan in November — well, in addition to being a Democrat in a state where Democrats seldom lose.
“We have a right to be hopeful,” Alsobrooks said. “We have a right to continue to believe in our communities. We won’t let anyone take our sense of optimism from us. ...
“You know, joy is an act of resistance as well.”
Is that what I should tell my son and his fiancée?
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
At a backyard engagement party last year, he explained in one of those happy-moment speeches under a tent why she is the woman for him.
“You’re someone I can be completely myself with.”
It’s a simple thing. It’s everything. We all wear masks — the brave face, game face, poker face.
My kids’ generation understands this better than me. They wear one mask for work, one for parents, another for friends and one more on social media, where exhibition is the thing.
Alsobrooks said she’s seen how they cope in her daughter, a college sophomore.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“Through her eyes, I can see the struggles of her generation.”
We all wear the mask that hides how Trump’s blitzkrieg days make us feel. Resignation is one survivors wear.
Alsobrooks’ mask might be optimism.
She believes the House Republicans’ proposed $600 million in Medicaid cuts, the decimation of the federal workforce and internecine MAGA fights will take a toll on Trump’s support. The courts are defending the rule of law.
Elon Musk, Trump’s billionaire sidekick, left the White House unloved. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the Freedom Caucus and Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress, voted “present” on Trump’s “big beautiful bill” because he couldn’t stomach the debt tidal wave it churns.
“You see that they’re turning on each other,” Alsobrooks said. “I believe that, thankfully, some of the Republicans — and it’s just my hope — that many of them, their conscience will continue to rise."
I don’t know what comes next for our son and new daughter. That’s the thing about starting a journey — they can have plans, but life won’t play along.
Will they look back in 30 years and think how much being together has made things better? I hope so.
On a rainy morning in Annapolis, as I thought about heading for Michigan and my son’s new chapter, Alsobrooks unknowingly helped me feel optimistic.
This is what I’ll tell my son and his wife.
Life is a struggle that is yours to win, and now, you do it together. Joy is your shield, love is your refuge.
Nurture them and they will protect you in ways you cannot foresee, make possible what you cannot imagine.
“I would ask all of you, please, to take care of each other in this moment,” Alsobrooks said. “There are some of us who have said, ‘I have to take my earrings off to get rough with these people,’ but in the meantime, I want for you all to continue to show gentleness toward each other.“
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.