Wanted to send a quick note this morning. It's been a busy few weeks. We just finished the last two town halls of our January tour yesterday. 13 in total.

Last night, I finally got a good 6 hours of sleep. And got to spend some time with Ellie, James, and Lauren. I needed the recharge.

I'll be honest, the long days, early mornings, and time away from home -- from my kids, from my wife -- it's tough sometimes.

But there is something about the campaign trail that keeps you going: The people you get to meet. People who completely inspire you. Who remind you why this work matters. Who become a part of your story -- and if you're lucky, you become a small part of theirs.

It's the folks who came out to my town hall in Worcester, on a freezing morning just a few days into the new year, when I didn't know what to expect during my first town hall of the campaign.

It's the community that came together at our Boston office opening, in the heart of Roxbury. A community that far too often gets skipped over.

It's the cities and towns in Western Mass, who came out for an hour and a half on a sunny Sunday to listen to some red-haired guy with some ideas on how to fix things, to do things a little differently.

It's the energy (and yes, the salsa music) in the room during our Spanish-only town halls. Being part of something that has never been done in Massachusetts Senate history.

It's people like Lizzie who I first met when I ran for Congress in 2012, when she was maybe four or five years old. And she came to see me again in Framingham just a few weeks ago, eight years later. When I saw her in the front row I put the whole event on pause for a few minutes so I could say hello. And she was just like I remembered her -- dynamic, sweet, full of light.

It's the young veterans I sat around a table with to hear about what they sacrificed for our country and to let them know that because they fought so hard for us, we're going to fight for them. And I mean it.

All of this is to say, this job, this race, this campaign - it's worth it. It's worth it because of the people on the trail and people like you, who read these emails. Your words of encouragement and your stories - they matter.

We just finished the first month of the year. Our primary is on September 1st. I don't plan on slowing down any time soon. I can promise you that I will put every fiber of my being into this race because it matters. Massachusetts matters. This country matters. People matter.

I'm all in, and I hope you are too.

--Joe​

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