Obama won, mom! We did it! I know, so exciting, right? I had to wake Dad up to tell him. He was watching earlier in the night, running the generator because the house was without power since Hurricane Sandy – OMG, you would have hated that whole thing, I’ll tell you about that in a minute – but YES! You should hear all the pontificating from the other side about what might have gone wrong. By midnight, Fox News was more entertaining than Jon Stewart. And Dad – he was worried it wouldn’t go in our favor. Something tells me you would have been more optimistic on this front. Though I will say, dad has remained pretty optimistic – and pretty stubborn! (Shocker, no?) – during this two-week power outage. Hurricane Sandy did a number on New York and New Jersey, and then, as if you needed this, a nor’easter came through and dumped eight inches of snow. When it all started, Dad was visiting with us in DC. It was his first time seeing the kids since you … couldn’t come. He did very well. Eli took every opportunity to sit in his lap. Was very cute. He said he wouldn’t have recognized Luke (well, he hadn’t seen Luke in many months … you visited me alone last time). Luke is walking now and can really engage in play. By Sunday night we knew his train the next morning would be cancelled. If you were there? You would have wanted to stay. Why go back to a cold dark house in a storm when you can stay with your grandkids an extra few days? But you know dad, always wanting to get home and check the house. There was no stopping him, so I gave him my car. And let me just say … you were so SPOT ON about getting a generator! Dad talked about selling it back in August, but I’m so glad he didn’t. What a relief to know he had that, even though he had to stand in line for an hour or two each day to get gas. I was glad to hear, despite the weather, that he was able to get out and vote. He told me that he saw your name on the vote sheet and had to tell them to cross it off. He must have cried; I think he cried when he told me that and I cried, too, when I hung up the phone, but that’s how it goes these days. Okay, I have to go catch a bus. I miss you and love you very much. We always wrote those words to each other even though it was stating the obvious, eh? That’s okay, obvious is good. Obvious helps.