Start Small

It was a heavy week to be a woman last week.  It was even harder being the mother of a daughter with a rare syndrome. If my kid has a child one day, that child has a 25% chance of having a single lobe of the brain and could die shortly after being born.  My daughter could die, too. 

So the news of Roe being reversed without considering the life of the mother put our little family on its heels.  Helplessness kicked in. I wallowed in it for a night.  Then I woke up and decided to pour all of my frustration into helping my daughter become a badass. 

(Not that she needs much help.) 

I took my kids to the paint store this weekend.  I let them pick out fresh colors—any colors they wanted—to paint their bedroom walls.  They did it all by themselves, and it was hard not to step in. But in the end, I wanted them to feel empowered and confident, so I sat on my hands and watched. 

I’m writing to you tonight in a pink, purple, orange, and blue funhouse-of-a-home with kids that are pretty damn happy and proud of themselves. 

Reader, I say it a lot: we can’t fight everything all at once.  The problems on this planet are too many and too big.  But if we all start small, we can at least get ourselves in a good headspace to be able to tackle more tomorrow.  

Let’s keep our chins up and heads down, and I’ll see you next Monday. -Em

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