Funny how when you say that it has been a tough, difficult, crappy, overwhelming year—nobody blinks an eye. They used to. They used to ask why but, now there is an unspoken understanding. And as sad as that makes me, this morning I find myself reflecting and smiling. My heart, while heavy, is full at the same time. It is an odd sensation really, but one that I am learning to appreciate.

There is a sense of hope living inside me at this moment. Belief that light has found a way to break through one of the densest, darkest, most far spread, and unrelenting storms, that has ever covered our nation…