Private, personal lives being used as political pawns

I remember well the day my father, Garth Dano, called me and said, "Nicole, I'm thinking about running against Angus Lee for the position of county prosecutor. How do you feel about that?" He, in fact, made several phone calls that day; to each one of his kids. He cared about how each of us might handle the stress of our very private and very personal lives being used as political pawns in a hurtful and damaging game that he knew his opponent, Mr. Lee, would play. The good news is that our father simply won't play it. Nor will any of his children.

Our family has endured a lot. Together, as we have been doing for a very long time now, we will continue to share honesty, pain, vulnerability, trust, joy, laughter and a lot of healing. We keep doing the work and standing in the light. We stand by who we are, where we come from, and the promise of where we're headed - together. I couldn't be prouder of each and every sibling God gave me. Period.

A favorite poem of mine is one adapted by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. A few of its lines are:

"What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway",

"If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway", and

"If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway".

Our father has spent his entire adult life, 35+ years, building vast legal experience, dependability, competence, and rapport with fellow legal professionals all around the state. Those are certainly the qualifications for which I, as a concerned voter, am looking.

Nicole Prentice

Ephrata