Promises

My mother is in the hospital again. She just moved back to her home after being with me for about six weeks following hip replacement surgery. Three days after being home she fell and fractured her pelvis in two places. According to her, she was just hanging up her coat when she lost her balance.

Of course, it’s obvious to me, and to my siblings, that her townhouse isn’t the place for an 82-year-old woman with limited mobility. The sunken living room and the many stairs going up to the bedrooms and full bathrooms are more falls waiting to happen.

It’s also obvious to my siblings and me that her companion is…well, in the interest of avoiding slander and/or bad language; suffice it to say that we’re not fans.

But today Mom made it clear to my brother and sister that she doesn’t care what we feel, worry about, want – she’s going to do what she’s going to do and if we don’t like it, well, so what?

So where does that leave me? Angry, to be sure, and hurt. But what about the bigger picture? It’s easier for my siblings – they don’t live here, so they don’t have to decide on a day-to-day basis if they’re going to check on Mom, go to the store for her, make sure she has her prescriptions, etc. And when Mom was at my house right after her surgery, she told me she didn’t know what she would do without me. I promised her she’d never have to find out.

Now she’s making a decision that maybe shuts me out. She doesn’t want my opinion, and I can’t just be silent if I think she’s unsafe. And to be honest, I don’t want to be manipulated. Do I jump every time she needs something that her good-for-nothing “boyfriend” won’t get for her because he doesn’t like the ethnicity of the customers at Kroger, or doesn’t want to use the gas to go to the pharmacy? Am I allowed to say something then or am I just supposed to swoop in, save the day, and then shut up again? Am I allowed to point out that if she falls and breaks something doing a normal thing like hanging up a piece of clothing, maybe that means it’s time to make some hard decisions before she hurts herself more? Apparently not.

That makes this relationship something different than I thought it was. That means that Mom wants something different than maybe I’m able to offer. That means that maybe I won’t be able to keep my promise. And I don’t know what to do with that.

Prayer Requests

A dear friend sent me a text today, asking for prayers for a family member who is having some health issues. Now, I believe in the power of prayer. I know of an instance where a very powerful prayer warrior got his prayer circle together – probably circling the entire United States, if not the world – and prayed a brain tumor to change colors so that the surgeons could tell the difference between tumor and brain tissue. I myself have had some remarkable, life-changing things happen in response to prayer. But while I know that prayers for her family are in order, I’m not sure that’s what my friend really needed.

I think that she might have just needed some encouragement. Someone who loves her to say, “I totally understand why life sucks right now.” Or, “Gosh, you’ve worked so hard forever, and you’re one of the best people I know. This just isn’t fair.” Or maybe even “You sound like you need a break—how can I help?” But it’s usually easier to ask for a prayer than an ear.

We don’t like to complain. Someone always has it worse than we do, and it feels wrong to bitch about the fact that your house is a mess because no one will clean it but you; or that the mortgage is going to be late again because the power bill was higher than expected; or that a family member is sick and you’re worried, of course, but it’s really hard to get your own stuff done because you have to take care of him/her. Saying any of that out loud feels petty and whiny. Even the big stuff like major illnesses or job losses or *add your own big thing here* can sound bad. This is especially true in the era of Facebook and Instagram, where we put forth our shiny, happy, selves and only rarely expose the painful, dark side of our own lives. Showing the darker side makes us look weak and desperate for affirmation.

But let’s give ourselves permission to text, or better yet, call a friend and say “Man. This really crappy thing just happened and I need to vent. I need someone who loves me to listen to me without judgment. I need some encouragement.”

I hardly ever give myself permission to do that. I’m supposed to be the positive one. And I’m sure my stupid issues are nothing compared to someone else’s problems. So, I’ll just keep it inside. My blood pressure is up, I’m not sleeping well, and I’m angry all the time, but I’m definitely NOT going to bother anyone else with my stupid problems lest I sound like the whiner I believe I am.

So, my friend (I know you know I’m talking to you), I will pray. In fact, I’ll pray for your whole family. But mostly I’ll pray for you and that you know that all you need to do is pick up the phone and text or call. You can count on me to answer, and to commiserate, and mostly to understand. Because I love you. And I know you’ll do the same for me.

My Unsolicited Opinions

I’m supposed to be doing my homework. But I decided to take a 5-minute break and look at Facebook because the Falcons are headed to the Superbowl and a lot of my friends are super excited about that. I like seeing posts from friends who are super excited.

A lot of my friends and family, men and women, also marched yesterday in support of women and they posted about that. I really liked seeing those posts.

But a few of my friends have posted long missives about why they don't support the march, which is okay because I'm all about how being allowed to have different opinions is one of the things that makes America great. So here are my opinions. 

My observation about the anti-march posts is that it looks like most of the posts are ones that have been copied onto walls from someone else’s page (which I have done at least once as well, when a post written by my niece mirrored exactly my feelings on the 2016 election). There are two that seem to prevail. One berates the organizers of the march in Washington for disallowing pro-life feminist groups from being sponsors. The other goes on about how “I’m a women… I make my own choices…stop being a victim…protest about things that matter like women’s rights in countries where they are supremely held down.”

First of all, I think it was unfortunate that any women’s group, including the pro-life feminist groups felt disinvited to the party.  I agree that women throughout the world are marginalized, and whether or not you are pro-choice should not be a reason that you aren’t allowed to support women’s causes.  But seriously – some of the posts sounded like there is some conspiracy to encourage all pregnant women to have abortions.

Let me say that NOT ONE person I know who is pro-choice (myself included) is pro-abortion. Abortion is a terrible thing – I am not pro-abortion. So let’s make sure not one girl or woman is in a position to even have to worry about whether or not to get an abortion. Let’s teach our girls about birth control, and having respect, and taking responsibility for their own bodies. Let’s teach our boys about birth control, and having respect, and to take responsibility for their own bodies, and to understand that an unwanted pregnancy is generally  much worse for the girl than for the boy. Let’s stop rape and child abuse and incest. BUT…let’s agree that if an unwanted pregnancy happens, it is very possible that if abortion isn’t a legal alternative, there are women who will find someone to perform one anyway. Someone in a dirty, unsanitary back room. Someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. Someone who can KILL that girl.

Secondly… and I apologize ahead of time for the disgusting profanity copied below...

Is there any woman out there who thinks Donald Trump’s well-publicized description of how he tried to “move on” a woman is okay??? 

Some of the people I know who have posted these canned responses to the march have sons. I want to ask them- "if your son said 'I moved on her like a bitch' and 'grab them by the pussy,' would that be okay with you? Or would you just say 'well… boys will be boys?'' I have to believe that the latter is true if this doesn’t make you physically sick. I don’t care how long ago it was, it’s wrong and perverted. It shows a gross lack of respect for women that we cannot let go unchecked. If we don't continue to let the president and congress know that we won't stand for this type of treatment then it will just get worse. To not say anything against it is to condone it.

Just to be clear, I have friends who I respect who voted for Trump. This isn’t a rant against people who voted for Trump.  But rather than troll anyone’s Facebook post, I figured I’d just get it out here and then let it go. Now back to my homework…