Dear Mr. President

I wrote this letter because I constantly struggle with my pride in America. I don't spend too much of my time worrying about it but there are days where the state of humankind really does get me down. I know it might be cheesy or dumb to some people for me to write this letter, but on some level it does make me feel better. I'm not sure yet if I will send it to our President and I realize that the chances of him reading it are very slim, but I don't think I'm alone with this want to have America represent something good and true again. Take it as you will, but please try to leave your judgments at the door. As we all should.

Dear Mr. President:

This week while working at my downtown Minneapolis job, I peered outside my street level window at the United States Post Office across the street where the American flag waved in the crisp April wind. I stared at it whipping around the pole, the stars and stripes wrinkled and distorted, and I started to think about what I thought that flag represented to me. And I couldn’t come up with anything.

Amidst all of the “birther” rumors, I found myself spending entirely too much time analyzing the state of this country and it’s people. I will be honest with you, I’ve never been a very patriotic person. I don’t have the flag displayed anywhere, I usually don’t sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at events, and the fun of the 4th of July seems to be lost to me. People in this country continue to disappoint me with their judgments, their naïve and ignorant behavior, their love of money and power, their need to partake in violence, and most importantly, the continuing need to work against each other rather than together as a nation.

What kind of country is this when a strong, smart, political figure is elected President, yet one out of four people continue to question his legitimacy? When has any other elected President been questioned about their US citizenship? It has never happened before. And what this tells me is that America hasn’t made the progress I’d like to believe it has made.

I struggle constantly with the want to be proud of the country I live in. I am proud of the rights that I have but it seems that so easily, these rights could be taken away from me. I want to live in a country where people of all backgrounds are welcomed and are not judged because of the color of their skin, their sex, their choice of worship, or who they choose to love. I want the people of our country to have the same rights because we are all Americans and because we should work together.

Why should one person have more rights than someone else if we are, in fact, the United States of America? How are we united in this “land of the free and home of the brave” when not all of us are fully “free”? Those people I consider “brave” are those who wake up every morning and are not afraid to be themselves in a country where so many people are trying their hardest to tell them to be someone else.

I understand that you’re not the only person in control of what happens in this country. I understand that it isn’t easy to be the President of the United States and it’s impossible to please everyone. But it is my true, undeniable, deep within my heart belief that everyone deserves fair and equal treatment. Simply, I feel like it’s just part of being a human to let people live as they please and to leave our judgments at the door. Why does humanity continue to be defined by each individual person? The last time I checked it was the humanrace and humankind and it wasn’t divided out into individual categories based on personal beliefs and backgrounds.

I’m not so sure how much power you really have and I’m really not so sure how much I trust this government of ours. And I know it's almost impossible to change the way people think. But even though I’ve only been of voting age for 10 years, for the first time I thought we had a President who could make me be proud of America again. I still believe you can do this, Mr. President. 

When will we truly be the United States of America? 

Best Wishes, 

Nicole T. Meyers

Professional Writer and Human Being.

Lead with your heart. And please don't be afraid to.

F-Head Kitten!

Most cats are lazy. The life of a cat usually involves these four daily tasks: eat, sleep, poop, lick butt. A ray of late afternoon sun shining through the window onto the floor or bed is a perfect spot for a cat to sprawl themselves out and sleep the day away. Maybe they will find themselves a nice perch on an open window and watch the chirping birds outside before they take a long snooze. My cat Phoebe is a completely different breed of cat. I think she may be mentally handicapped.

The daily life of Phoebe involves these numerous tasks: eat, drink out of the toilet, coo, meow, drown toy mice in the toilet, drink out of the bathroom faucet, drink out of the kitchen faucet, dig an old toy out from under the couch or stove, scratch couch, coo, meow, sleep, scratch mattress, climb in shoeboxes under the bed while mom tries to sleep, scratch chair, make loud, obnoxious scratching noises in the litter box after pooping, get turd stuck on butt due to ingested hair and drag butt on floor leaving turd for mom to pick up, lick butt, eat random crumb on the floor, eat regular food, throw up regular food in the corner because random crumb didn't sit well, meow at mom when she gets home, meow at mom while she gets ready for bed, meow at mom while she tries to sleep, bring toy mouse into mom's bed and drop it on her pillow meowing until she throws it, sit at the end of the bathtub and meow at mom while she showers, lick dirty plates in the sink, eat regular food, throw up regular food in the corner because contents from licked plates didn't sit well, sleep on mom's pillow, throw toy mice around the kitchen, coo, meow, lick whatever mom is cooking when mom turns her back, drink out of the toilet, clean ears and back, climb to the highest shelf in the closet and knock mom's things over, knock water glass over, drown toy mice in toilet, sleep in kitten bed, coo, meow, eat, and repeat.

You might say that she is "quirky" or "special" and you'd be right. She is those things. She's also very difficult to deal with. Tonight I really reached a breaking point with Phoebe and I don't think I've ever been so angry with her! Every Friday at my work we have "Breakfast/Treat Day" where someone brings something in the morning to eat. Usually I bring something bought at the store. Lately everyone keeps bringing these fantastic homemade dishes and I really felt like I needed to up my game with the Friday treats. I found a recipe for cream cheese danish and went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients. Today was a lovely spring day, sunny and 64 degrees, birds chirping, snow melting and I really was feeling all kinds of cheerful, happy feelings. I prepared the danish while Phoebe looked on, trying to sneak a taste every time I turned my back. I'm not really sure when she decided it was okay to jump on the table and stick her nose where it doesn't belong, but she's been really terrible lately. She got her dirty little tongue on the bowl of cream cheese filling but it was AFTER I had already finished preparing it in the pan. Although upset, I didn't punish her too severely because I had already put it in the oven. After 20 minutes, my cream cheese danish was done baking and it smelled and looked lovely!! I set it out on the counter to cool. I turned my back for no more than a minute and caught Phoebe licking the top of the danish. She licked about 3" off the top of my lovely, fresh, golden brown cream cheese creation! I screamed. I screamed at her and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and yelled "NO PHOEBE!!!!" She flinched. I felt bad for scaring her and put her down. But the anger was still brewing inside of me. I sat down on the couch. She curled up next to me and started to purr. I can never stay mad at her for long and I hate that!

And the thing is, cats don't learn! You can't train them! You could scare the hairy turds right out of them and they'd still lick your cream cheese danish. While she laid next to me purring, curling her head upside down and peering up at me with those big innocent green eyes, I immediately wanted to pet her and snuggle with her. But I was still so mad!!! I had to cut the piece that she licked out and throw it away. Tomorrow I will have to explain the big empty space in the pan to my coworkers telling them that I did NOT eat the danish myself, but my stupid cat did!

Although tonight I think Phoebe is a giant F-head (and I'll probably call her that for a few days), I know that tonight when she curls up next to me on my pillow, nuzzling her face on my cheek and licking my eyelids, I'll tell her she's cute and that I love her.

I'm still waiting for her to puke in the corner from the cheese danish she ingested. It's coming. I know it.

Attached is a photo of my F-head kitten. Don't be fooled by her cute, innocent face... she will eat your cheese danish too.

Lead with your heart.