I am having a hard time believing the sentiment love trumps hate. How can I? I have yet to see it.I honestly see less and less love every day.Turn on the television there is hate, open social media apps more hate.Since the race for the White House began I refrained from writing political pieces, because I knew it would breed more hate.I know that people are intolerable of other people’s beliefs if they do not match their own.That notion astounds me since we are a nation that has always embraced our diversities, which makes us great. Our differences should make us stronger not weaker.

I am not a liberal nor am I extremely conservative.I do not believe in groups and lynch mobs.I believe in people and what they show me.Who you voted for makes no difference to me.Who you are to me does.I am from the very conservative south. I did not move here a few years ago and pretend I speak for everyone here. I was born and raised here. I am the picture of Small Town, USA.I believe in God and country. I believe it's not ok to burn American flags or kneel for the national anthem. If you believe otherwise that is your choice. I believe peaceful protests at Lee circle should never include the words "die white people die". I believe they should not include any sentence or phrase calling for the death of anyone.I respect everyone's differences. But I'm not sure everyone else does.

Before you call me uneducated, you should know that I am a college graduate.I am not a racist; I love so many people from different races. My grandfather’s family was not from this country, but they loved it.He flew an American flag proudly in his yard every day.I do not care what your sexual orientation is.I love the gay community and I love many members of it.I wrote a blog called “Gay is not a Bad Word” because I want that to be instilled into my children. I am none of those horrible words you choose to call people that disagree with you.Everyone who knows me can attest that I am probably one of the most non-judgmental people you can meet.

All that being said, I will go to President Obama’s speech on Wednesday: "we are Americans first," he stated as he stood in front of the White House. I like to believe I am also. I have always been proud to be an American, no matter who sat in the Oval Office.I have always been proud to live in a country that gave us the freedoms to be who we are. Today, I am an American that sees we are at war with each other. I see a country that was built to be one indivisible nation growing more and more divided. I see a country not living up to its potential. I see a country that used to embrace each other’s differences, now hate each other because of them.

I know Americans that are being financially burdened by Obamacare, forced to pay for something that they cannot afford. I know Americans that lost their oil field jobs. I know Americans that can no longer support their families. These Americans do not care about your race or sexual orientation.They did none of this to offend you. Honestly, their decisions had nothing to do with you and everything to do with personal circumstances.They did what they felt was necessary.They are trying to figure out how to feed, clothe and support their children, not the best ways to hurt your feelings. Middle class America cannot carry any more of the financial burden.They are not capable of it.They are just trying to survive, just like you. While you believe so whole heartedly in your beliefs, you overlook other people’s struggles and think they are racist or whichever word you choose. They are not, they just believe as whole heartedly as you do in their beliefs. At the end of the day these people voted less for Trump and more for a change that they need. So, instead of both sides assuming what other people feel or want, maybe we should start listening to each other instead of yelling at each other. And,maybe just maybe we can start rebuilding that indivisible nation again.