A woman has penned an essay explaining why she was canceling both Thanksgiving and Christmas following the election.
On November 6, it was announced that Donald Trump had won a second term in the White House beating out his opponent, Kamala Harris. Andrea Tate recently wrote an essay in HuffPost, reflecting on her reaction to the president-elect’s victory knowing that she voted for Harris and her husband had voted for Trump.
Tate wrote how upset she was following the announcement and how she had resorted to scrolling on social media to make herself feel better when she noticed a Facebook post from her husband that read, “God Bless America. God bless #45, 47.”
“It had a few likes, and a few commenters joined him in his celebration. He was downstairs in the kitchen making coffee, and I was upstairs avoiding him. I couldn’t talk to him — or even look at him,” her essay read.
“I immediately texted, ‘I love you, but out of respect for me and all my liberal writer friends, can you please take down that post? Also, tell your family I love them, but I will not be coming for Thanksgiving, and I won’t be hosting Christmas. I need space.’”
She explained that her husband went on to apologize, but she still maintained minimal contact.
When she did finally speak to him, it was regarding the holidays as she said she couldn’t “bite my tongue like I did with Hillary.”
“I don’t want to disrespect your parents or your brother and his family in their home, or our home, so it’s best this way. No scenes. You can go see them. Seriously — I will not be in a room of 15 people who voted for Trump,” Tate said.
Her husband did not argue with her and only mentioned that their son and his girlfriend were supposed to be coming home and if they would “feel bad.” “We will have our own small holiday, and it will be fine,” she replied.
“I was surprised he didn’t argue about the change in holiday plans. Normally, it would be a bone of contention because of how close he is to his family,” the essay continued. “Somewhere inside, he must understand what this election outcome means to me. I know he has empathy for me, for which I am thankful. I will hold onto this like a life raft as I try to figure out how we move forward with our marriage.”
As the essay was reposted on various Reddit forums, many people commented on their own experiences with family members who disagreed with them politically.
“I can’t have a social visit with my parents without it escalating to yelling because they want to spout off on whatever was on the Fox News chyron that day,” one Reddit comment began. “I’m the only child. They were nothing but doting parents for my entire childhood and since about 2016 they’ve become miserable unbearable people to be around.”
“Sadly, I was thinking of visiting my dad in Texas this Christmas, but my brother has gone full MAGA since moving there in 2020,” another commenter wrote. “I thought he’d be happy Trump got elected, instead I had 5 days of endless texts of hate until I finally blocked him.”
