Dear Friend,

Through all our communications I am hoping that you are getting to know us and me. That we build a sense of trust and community with you. It is your generous support that allows us to do the work we do. But I want to take a moment to share a personal note. My father, at age 101 passed away this weekend. He was a great influence in my life along with my mother who passed some time ago. My father lived through the Great Depression, fought in WWII, and made the courageous decision to pack up and immigrate to the US.

He and I had an odd dynamic. But it actually reflects the odd dynamic that is America. Over the last 60+ years he and I watched the same historical moments that impacted the direction of this country. Yet he came to the direct opposite conclusions that I did. He proudly voted for Trump in 2016. I am a staunch progressive, a leftist that studied socialism and communism to try and find an alternative to American racism and social injustice.

My brothers like to joke with me that I am a “chip off the old block” because I share a lot of traits and interests my dad did. He taught me how to work with my hands, he instilled in me a strong sense of independence, and he taught me rigor and discipline. So I am grateful to him that he helped make me who I am. But we fought all the time. We couldn’t be more opposite in our world views and how we felt about our fellow man. An additional way this reflected the weirdness of America is he was devoted to the Church. Me, not so much. But his faith never drove him to human compassion but to judging one and all.

I guess my father taught me a lot about “What’s the Matter with Kansas”. A reference to the 2004 novel that talked about voting against your own self interest. My father benefitted from union organizing, his sons benefitted from the fight for equal access to education, and his wife benefitted from the role of healthcare in America.

So I ask you to learn from my experiences, my mistakes. I loved my father, in my way. We disagreed and we fought. But at the end of the day he was a major part of who I am just as many of our conservative rivals are a part of what America is. Of course not all conservatives. Nothing we can do about those crazy uncles no one talks about. But my dad was a shining example of an immigrant making it in America.

Thank you for all your support. And I thank you for allowing me to share my story.

In struggle,

Andy