Dear Jon (11/3/20 6:45pm PST)

Jon, I need you to vote in a certain way or I won’t be able to visit your state anymore. As you know, I vowed to boycott your state if it turned a certain color in this election. Since you’re the last person in line to vote, and it’s exactly tied, you are the difference between me being able to visit your state in the next 4 years, or not. I really want to come hang out with you once Covid is over. I really want to be able to stop at your house if and when I am driving cross-country and pass through your state. But if you vote for that other guy, I won’t be able to do this for 4 more years. Your state will turn that other color on the map, and it will immediately become a ‘pass-over’ state, by a differential of exactly 1. Please, Jon, please allow me to visit you and your family. Allow me to say hi to your little brother and we can all get pizza at that place we went to last time. I really like your state, I have fond memories of it, but that will all be shattered if you press that other button.

Jon, I know you are transitioning, but sometimes in life things have to be binary. In my mind, whenever I think of you, and your state, I want to view it through the lens of a certain color. If it is that other color, in the map of my mind, I will have to move it into a place called “Dead to Me,” down in the recesses of my heart. At least for 4 more years. Because, Jon, while certain things are binary, they are not binary forever. I’ll always love you as a friend, and perhaps one day we can even be together, as lovers, after you finish your transition, but until then we need to keep our friendship up, and that means me being able to come see you. Lord knows we need that, because you won’t be able to come see me. Not after they built that wall to keep people like you out. Not since they’re hunting for your head. They hate you, Jon, and everything you represent, and even though I support them you know I don’t want you dead. You’re a special one, Jon. You’re a real person. You’re Jon. You’re just… you. Please just be you, voting for that guy. The one I like. Then, you’ll not only be my friend, but also on the right side of history.

I know they say they hate you, Jon, but if you join them, they’ll learn to love you. Just like I did. And you’ll see, when I come to visit your state again, just how much love we have to offer. Walls can’t keep us apart. But colors can. I love you, Jon, as a friend and perhaps one day as more. I’ll always have fond memories of you. But I want to make more memories, together, on your side of the wall. I want to visit your state again. I want to touch your face and feel what your new skin is like. But most of all, I just want to breathe that fresh, clean air, and know that we can share time together in a place that could be both of our homes, where we are both safe and accepted, even if you are still being hunted, because our states are the same color once again.