Today is a crisp, bright day with a clear, blue sky. Our country’s flag flys above the Oak Park Fire station across the alley. I can see it from my bedroom window, at times flown at half mast to honor a recently deceased firefighter. Today it proudly flys to the top of the pole. This day is now called Veteran’s day, but I grew up knowing it as Armistice Day. It marked the end of the World War One in 1918. My Dad fought in that war in France as a newly arrived American immigrant from his Lithuanian homeland. He was just 17 years old. Years later my younger brother, John was born on Armistice day, and we always celebrated both events together as something special to be acknowledged. His son, Shawn called me today to talk a bit as he frequently does. I placed the American flag at the front entrance of Shem Center where I also fly the flag of Ukraine to honor a courageous people who suffer greatly from the war inflicted on them from Russia.

The recent election of Donald Trump as President colors the day with deep shock and disappointment. It is difficult to hear the possible explanations that the media offer as we realize a convicted criminal with close ties to dictators in the world scene announces the choices he is making to fill White House positions. “Equality before the law” for everyone is no longer the case with a mostly corrupt Supreme Court declaring complete immunity from prosecution for the President. Trump is free to do as he choses to rule the country.

The news media I follow and believe trustworthy offer analysis that attempt to explain Trump winning the election. Yet, an uninformed, and misinformed people now accepting lies from whoever delivers them, the sinking I feel as the American experiment as a free democracy fades. The demise will not take four years to accomplish. A few months is all that is needed. I am willing to hear anyone with a more positive message and remain willing to have my opinion changed, but the forces of wrongdoing seem too strong to see as ineffective.

I remember my Dad today who followed his dream for a better life in America. A card mounted photograph of his peasant parents brought with him shows some wear for having been handled over the years. I am left wondering how this single memory captured on a photograph offered some memory of the last time he saw them and the sisters and brothers he left behind.

Today I am remembering my Dad, Joe who fought in France in the First World War and my older brother, Bob and my younger brother, John who served our country as Marines. And I cannot forget Trump standing in a military cemetery referring to the soldiers buried there as “suckers and losers.” The scene is unforgettable and heartbreaking. Yet it remains an image commingled with that of courageous men of generosity who served the American dream that is so assaulted today.

— Br. Joseph Kilikevice