Dear Mr. President

 Dear Mr. President,

I think tonight's letter to you will be somewhat short.  I have drunk a bit tonight while watching the Super Bowl, and I can't vouch for my ability to write anything cogent.  But, I will try.

I was hoping for the old man to win tonight, thinking about you, in turn.  I don't know if bad referee calls made the game for Tom Brady tonight, but I still like to think he and his team would have won regardless.  I hope that for you, too.

I was also thinking that the reason your predecessor had so much success was because he was able to explain things in a simple way--something that was easily understood by people.  I really think that's something you should remember and perhaps consider working to explain things bit by bit as you go.  Big plans seem really complicated, but when you break things down in bite size pieces, somehow it all seems a lot easier to digest.  I'm not saying you shouldn't have big plans and ideas, but try to remember that not everyone out here has gone to law school.  If you want your plans and ideas to succeed, make sure you can make the case for them simply, in a way that most people can understand.

Last, but not least, I read a great quote this week from Greta Thunberg, and I wanted to share it with you.  That idea of simplicity came to me because of this quote, but also because I was looking at the kind of poetry that really seems to resonate with me as I explore my favorite poems this month.  They tend to be simple things--things that people can hold onto.  And this quote of hers was something that seemed right to me--something that even in all its simplicity still rang true.

Science and democracy are strongly interlinked - as they are both built on freedom of speech, independence, facts and transparency.
If you don’t respect democracy then you probably won’t respect science. And if you don’t respect science then you probably won’t respect democracy.

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 6, 2021

 So I'll leave that with you for now along with these final thoughts:

I know you spent a lot of this week trying to get things straightened out.  It's been two and a half weeks since you took office, and you've definitely been working hard.  I wonder if any of them realize that your term as president is going to be one where you get to express who you really are--that all the games of politics and the past are behind you, and that you are going to try to truly serve the people of this country.

There are a lot of people who are going to look at what you've done in the past and think they can manipulate you or hinder your hopes by bringing up that past, and while we cannot escape what we've done, we can become better for having lived through it.  I hope you will be that better version of yourself, and I hope you will inspire in others that better version of themselves, too.

You've got a hard road ahead of you, Mr. President, but I believe that we will come out stronger in the end.

Sometimes even the old guy can win the Super Bowl, after all.  And that's something to inspire hope in all of us.

I remain a loyal and hopeful citizen.

~~ Jenni

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times