How I Survived the Trump Years

Therapy cat hard at work.

Back in 2016 I was still disbelieving how corrupt and pathological the Trump administration could be. I assumed that at some point adults would enter the room and a more normal presidency would evolve. Looking back, I admit I was so wrong it hurts.

Initially I would watch the news with my wife after dinner. As the mayhem and stupidity began to unfold, I became aware of a need to sit close to her, literally to band together, to withstand the assault on truth.

Later we needed to be under a blanket to really feel protected enough to survive the news as presented by Rachel Maddow.

By 2019 we required a weighted blanket to give us the perception of safety. The extra heft of the heavy blanket added emotional armor.

For the last few months of the Trump White House, we required something out of the ordinary to take us over the finish line – a therapy cat. The theory was that the cat would sit on top of the weighted blanket and allow us to pet it and lower our stress when things really got out of control.

The therapy cat overall was a good idea as we all enjoy cats, but there are many nights when the cat isn’t on the clock, can’t be bothered with us, is somewhere else, or chooses to administer therapy in a manner no one can fathom.

We are all complex individuals.