Both my grandfathers were World War II veterans. I grew up with their stories and also watching Soviet and Romanian war movies that instilled in me the belief that the Nazis were bad.
We lived in communist Romania, so I remember what dictatorship did to a country. Shortages, poverty, and oppression were part of daily life. My parents had it worse, of course, because children like me tended to accept our living conditions as normal. But even I could tell that the bloody fall of communism in 1989 was a good thing. Everyone dreamed of democracy and was eager to make it a reality in Romania. A few years later, we all watched Putin destroy the budding democracy in Russia and become a dictator.
So, between my fear of the Nazis and the worry that Trump would try to destroy American democracy to become a dictator on day one (as he had promised during the campaign), I started this year knowing I had to show up to every rally I could.
The first one in was on a cold and rainy day in February (in my adopted hometown of Seattle).
Event: Presidents’ Day Rally
Date: February 17, 2025
Location: Cal Anderson Park
Crowd size: around 100 people
Seattle Times coverage: none
I had my US passport with me, just in case, and I’ve been carrying it with me ever since.
At the rally, there might have been more speakers on the schedule than people in the crowd. The speakers shared stories about their lives as members of different groups that Trump was already hurting. At times, I teared up listening to them. And I worried that only those directly victimized by the new administration would show up to protest these abuses and crimes.
I didn’t think to take a selfie, and I only have a few pictures. There wasn’t much to capture on that mostly empty field. So here’s my first postcard. In one photo, I was holding a candle to add my light to that dark day.
