Madame Secretary,
As child, I identified as a dancer. When the words would not
come out, movement did. I could jump and spin my way into a safe haven; one
where I’d take refuge when the hardest of times were upon me. On November 9th,
2016 I could barley walk; let alone dance. I hobbled my way into Starbucks,
ordered my usual coffee and waited at the end of the barista bar staring into
space. I must have looked out of sorts because an older woman in her 50s came
up to me grabbed both of my hands and murmured “I know.” Our gazes communicated
our heartbreak. The morning before I suited up in my best pants suit and
dressed my three month old daughter in an “I’m with Her” onesie, dropped her for
her third week at daycare and joined my husband at the polls. You wouldn’t know
who I was voting for. My suit was black and I had no “Stronger Together” pins.
Exiting the polls the world was my oyster, until I reached the door. An older gentleman
approached me before I could exit and I geared up for an elder praising me for
voting. Instead he said to me “Just so you know you’re a woman. I will never
vote for you for President.” He wore a “Make America Great Again” hat.
My parents must have known I’d be a nerd. In middle school
election night was “way better than the Super Bowl.” Obviously quoting my
thirteen year old self there, it was true. I never watched a football game on
my own accord but by god I knew who the Defense Secretary was. Before my
grandmother died she told me she knew I was meant to run for office. Two years
after she passed I attended The Presidential Academic Seminar Series at The
Washington Center, which was a series of lectures which focused on the media’s
role in a Presidential Election. When I returned to my University I was
determined to come back to D.C for the summer internship program. On my
application I wrote an essay entitled “Political Common Ground: Achievable or
Not?” Three weeks later I was offered a full scholarship and set my sights on
Capitol Hill.
The path that brings me to where I am now: wife, mom and
business professional is a long one. I stayed in “politics” for a short time
and moved onto what I deemed a little more of a stable path. My husband’s year
long deployment may have something to do with that, along with a move away from
Northern Virginia. But it lands me here. On November 7th 2016 I
thought paid maternity leave was going to be brought to the table, that
healthcare would be protected and that my excitement in 2008 would be renewed as
I entered a new chapter: motherhood. Now will I ever run for office? Your guess
is as good as mine.
It will not be popular to post this, but I will. Because my
beliefs are valid. I read the first
chapter of What Happened and you opened up the flood of emotions I have
kept guarded for nearly a year. I applaud your efforts and know you made a
difference to me if no one else. On inauguration day I watched on a TV in a
client’s office not ten miles from where you sat. I felt your pain, but when
you walked into that crowd you proved to me a woman determined can handle anything.
Your Friend,
Maegen Gonska
