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Money might not buy happiness, but it sure helps with an escape route.”
“While you were paralyzed with fear, your happiness suffered. That’s a call to courage if I ever heard one.”
“Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table,” I replied. “Huh?” “He only recognizes the element of surprise.”
“I’m crazy?” I asked. “You started it! You started it, and I plan on finishing it. That’s just responsible fighting. That’s what a mother does, finishes things. Then tidies up. Trash can, unmarked grave, whatever. Garbage goes where I put it, and that’s that.”
“What do you think it does to future men when you teach boys that being weak is being a pussy? Pussy meaning female, obviously. Or yelling at men who are doing poorly that they’re being girls? Or ladies? Had enough, ladies?” I squinted one eye at him. It was all my brain could muster for a glare. “Men are teaching boys that they are equivalent to ladies, to girls, when they’re at their worst. At their absolute weakest. And you wonder why we’re from different planets? You wonder why men so often disrespect women?”
The courage of a mother could not be measured. We toiled in the background, day in and day out, without thanks, so our children could become their best selves. We sacrificed ourselves for our loved ones, and we did it silently. Gladly. Full of love.
Within the space of a few minutes, another world had been revealed to me, one where fairytales and nightmares were as real as 401ks.
“So this is where your connection to the animal kingdom comes in handy, is it? Scaring douches?” I belatedly noticed Austin’s mood had darkened with Donna’s comment. He reached for the scotch. “It is an effective way to scare douches, yes.”
“You belong in that house. You’re just as cracked as your butler,” he wheezed.
But the truth was, I didn’t feel accepted. I didn’t feel acknowledged for my service in raising the next generation, for my active role in the community, or even for being human sometimes. I felt utterly ignored. I felt invisible or, worse, frowned upon. Most of the time, when I looked in the mirror, I saw only my flaws. I saw all the things that advertisements and social media said was wrong with me.
I wanted to focus on what was right about this version of myself, like the way I’d learned to take life a little slower and enjoy each moment. Like my appreciation for people’s differences, and for beauty found in unlikely places. For my friendships, new and old. I wanted it to be okay that I wasn’t worried about beauty anymore, or worried about looking young. I just wanted to look like me, however me looked in any given year.
Raise your voice until you are heard. Look however you want, be whoever you want, and demand people pay attention to you. Stop taking what you’re given, and demand the space in life you want.”
Stop being ignored. Raise your voice until you are heard. Look however you want—be whoever you want—and demand people pay attention to you.
