Dear hurting American,

I understand that your heart is broken; mine is too. We put faith in this country, we believed that we as a country could do better than this, but we proved ourselves wrong. Many of us flocked to the polls, sent in absentee ballots, and some people did not exercise their right to vote, because they believed that there was no way this could happen to us. This is not to condemn them, they're already condemning themselves, wondering if they would have made the difference, wondering if the fate of our country would be in different hands if they had only cast a ballot. This is not to condemn. This is for us to mourn together. This is to establish our hurt feelings, and this is to come together to survive the next four years.

To the members of the LGBT community, the Islamic community, and other minority groups, I am so sorry. I can not imagine the pain, and fear you are going through right now. I can only imagine you feel betrayed, lied to, and unimportant, but I want to tell you, you are still important. You are so, so important. You still matter, even though this country has an awful way of showing you that. I pray that you over come. Rise above the hate that has been shown to you , and rise above what is threatening everything that you believe in.

Nothing about this feels right. Nothing about this feels safe. Women have lost the right to choose to not have children, we have lost the right to our own bodies. To say "no", because if the president says to "Grab them by the pussy", it must be OK, right? NO. We are still human beings. We still have rights, no matter how hard Donald Trump tries to take them away.

Many people are talking about leaving. Fleeing the country to escape the ridiculousness that we are about to endure. I beg of you, stay. Stay to show your resilience. Stay to show that we will not be silenced. Stay to rise above. Stay to love each other. Our country needs love more than anything right now. Love the cranky old man who is now weeping over the state of our country. Love the gay couple next door, who fears they will never be able to marry. Love the young woman that you ride the elevator with every morning, make her feel safer. Love everyone. Spread your love in the midst of all of the hate. Let your light shine. Let your light shine, and together we will blind those who welcomed the darkness.

Sincerely,

Your fellow, scared American