Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose

by Joe Biden

The local cop in the squad car would look at the fifteen-year-old boy in a hoodie on a street corner as a criminal in training, instead of as an aspiring writer who might one day be the poet laureate and deserved a chance. The people in the neighborhood saw the policewoman in her car as a threat, instead of as a mom who coached basketball, taught Sunday school class, wanted more than anything in the world to make it home safely to tuck in her three children, and deserved the right to do so.

the time will come, when Rafael’s memory will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.

I try to be mindful, at all times, of what a difference a small human gesture can make to people in need. What does it really cost to take a moment to look someone in the eye, to give him a hug, to let her know, I get it. You’re not alone?

“Remember, Mr. President,” I would say when it was just the two of us, “the country can never be more hopeful than its president. Don’t make me ‘Hope.’ You gotta go out there and be ‘Hope.’”

“True bravery is when there is very little chance of winning, but you keep fighting.”