Waiting for results, hoping for better, whoever wins

Before I left the house on Election Day to interview people voting at the polls, I hung our American flag in the bracket on the front porch.

I hang it on the usual occasions — July Fourth, Veterans Day, Memorial Day — and on days like this. A reminder of what we are supposed to be.

That night, my friend Aaron showed up first, spouting return numbers before he said “hello.” He’s a former Army Ranger from Colorado.

Ally came with her daughter, Taylor. My son, Sawyer, sprawled across the chair closest to the TV.

As the night wore on, we poured more wine and ate more pizza, watching the returns, some so close they can’t be called. Ally had hoped the margins would have been bigger.

It was proof how deeply divided we are.

“There have been times when I give up on us,” said Taylor, who’s 26 and biracial.

She looked online for positive signs: A transgender woman elected to the Delaware Senate. A Black woman and Democrat elected as mayor in Manassas, Virginia, for the first time.

We watched Joe Biden speak in Delaware. “Be patient,” he said. “It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who‘s won this election. That’s the decision of the American people.”

It is up to us. We count, and wait, trying to be patient.

Aaron and Ally were gone after midnight when President Trump claimed victory and called for an end to counting ballots. It wasn’t true. There were votes yet to be counted.

On Wednesday, I turned on the TV while I made coffee, listening for what had changed overnight.

I believe in the process. That the people decide. That we want better for our country.

I went outside and hung up my flag, again.