Wednesday, October 4, 2017

The Eradication of Hogs



This is a post about my son, Henry, with whom I am well pleased.

Actually, this is a post about my son, Henry, for whom I am bursting with pride.

Henry is a peacemaker. He is not one to get involved in conflict, nor to agitate. He is preternaturally good-natured and easy-going. He might be slightly averse to conflict. When I send him things of a political nature or ask him to take a stand, he either blows me off, says that he isn't an activist or mocks me (good-naturedly). He is absolutely right that I am annoying when I am most agitated about the issues that are important to me. Because I'm female and he's male, I consider that a win on my part. I strive to agitate and be annoying to men, to tell you the truth. I'm interested in smashing the patriarchy.

This afternoon, Henry sent me a series of texts documenting an argument he had on Facebook with one of his high school classmates. I'm no stranger to arguing with high school classmates. The ones with whom I've argued are mostly men and a few random females,  but I've long since quit engaging with them (the last time I did so and stayed respectful but asked uncomfortable questions, I was blocked, and the questions were never answered which to me is typically conservative Republican). I have other friends from high school, though, who occasionally screen shot their conversations with these folks and show me what they're talking about and oh dear Lord and bless their hearts.

Well, this post isn't about me and I don't want to spew contempt and vitriol, as is my tendency when it comes to some of the high school classmates. I was a sweet and gentle soul in high school, I swear, and I don't think those people (and it's not everyone in my high school) had any idea that a patriarchy-smasher was in their midst. How would they? Well, for one thing, none of them took honors classes.

Ouch.

This is about Henry and his initial foray into taking a stand about something and doing it so well that I could just cry.

It can't be easy coming of age during these particularly shitty times. Yesterday. My god, yesterday.

I obviously am not going to reveal what this high school classmate of Henry said, but suffice it to say that she supports the POSPOTUS and is an avid Second Amendmenter.

The following is Henry's response to her tirade about the usual blah, blah, blah that the pro-assault weapons folks always trundle out after a massacre. Henry began with: THIS IS ABSOLUTELY 100% a



Those last three sentences broke my heart.

She responded with some more blah, blah, blah that included the necessity of making hotel windows bullet-proof and the necessity of using assault weapons for hunting. Then Henry continued:




Then there's this:




Hence, the title of this piece.

Oh, dear Reader, how we laughed.



Henry, are you reading this?

You make me proud.

You are respectful, strong in your convictions and persuasive in your delivery. You wrote passionately and beautifully.  Thanks for kicking ass without being rude or disrespectful. People will say, why bother? and there will be days when you wonder why you do. You might even lose your temper and your mind, feel hopeless and useless and guilty of stirring the pot. You'll certainly wonder whether there's any use to any of it at all. You will never be sorry, though, to do the right thing, to stand by your convictions and for those who are vulnerable. You're woke as they say and on your way.

We old folks need you and your friends to step up and help us. We are grateful for your energy.

You are beautiful inside and out, and I love you more than you'll ever know.

24 comments:

  1. We don't need his friend, the hog hunter. :-) Everything else -- absolutely.

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  2. Henry is good in heart and bone and soul. And he has a lot of his mother in him. Which makes him just about absolutely perfect.

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  3. Thank you Henry. We need you now more than ever. I reminded my family last night that I wasn't the only registered voter in the house and gave them all our misRepresentative's number. Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth.

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  4. Kudos Henry! This is what I want to hear. What I don't want to hear is "pray for Las Vegas"!!!!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  5. Amen, Henry! We need more articulate, well-reasoned people to take on the ridiculous mental gymnastics that gun people go through to justify the absurd proliferation of weapons. (Bullet-proofing hotel windows?! Really???!)

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  6. What Bonnie said, 100%.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  7. Beautiful Boy, Beautiful Mom. You done good. XXOO

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  8. Beautifully written by both mother and son.

    The rise of "gun rights" as a polarizing issue in US politics was described by Nixon's own conservative Supreme Court Appointee, Warren Burger, as a despicable hoax played on the US public.

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  9. Eradicating hogs? I had a good laugh at that one too!

    What a fine child you raised. I feel a lot better knowing that there are young people out there doing the right thing.

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  10. I think this is also about parenting. You spent years doing your thing and letting him do his thing (which was different than your thing.) But he was paying attention. You gave him space, so he could make it his thing, when he was ready. Beautiful. And so amazingly gratifying for you, mom. Thank you both.

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  11. Henry makes me feel good again.

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  12. This made me tear up. His answers were good and right and strong and true. Young people like your Henry (and my own daughter, who makes me THINK every single day) give me hope for the future.

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  13. Oh Elizabeth, I am so proud of your boy I could burst! I can only imagine how you must feel, reading his passionate and persuasive and beautifully delivered words. As it turns out, he was taking notes when you were doing your patriarchy smashing thing. He certainly is a beautiful, beautiful young man, inside and out. Go Henry! Thank you for sharing this.

    (on another note, isn't jt weird when you see pics of them at college and realize you're seeing a whole new side? so endlessly fascinating.)

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  14. We most certainly need Henry in order to obtain and healthy more sane country. These college years are going to be most interesting to follow...who knows what this lad will be up to?

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  15. Beautiful boy x

    I will refrain from commenting on hog eradication at all.

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  16. Celebrating every son and daughter who sees through the lunacy, who speaks up. It takes a fine human to raise one. Keep kicking ass. I just wish I weren't so tired. xo

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  17. You are reaping what you've sown, my dear. So, please know that, while you're revering Henry, it was your steadfast and fierce advocacy for the things you believe in and the way that you live your life every damn day that enabled this to happen. Throw yourself back with abandon onto your bed and give a hearty, "Fuck, yeah!" The world is so lucky to have you and yours making waves. XOXO

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  18. Henry,

    you are a good guy -

    without a gun.

    See -

    it can be done!

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  19. Good on you, Henry. Clearly you're a chip off the eloquent block that is your mother... wait... that came out wrong. Anyway, thank you for taking a stand, Henry. We need you. We need more of you. We're all so very grateful for your mother's passionate patriarchy-smashing. Clearly, she taught you well.

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  20. It is refreshing that the Younger Generation are taking stands on important issues they are passionate about. I totally agree with Henry's assessment and I also realize there are many who support the other side of the debate passionately too... which is why it's all such a polarized topic to debate and thus the most timid simply will not engage at all. My Grandson is very outspoken and prone to take a stand openly and without apology, he makes me proud for standing for something as well. Your Son was very respectful and firm, not easy to do when discussing a topic with someone passionately for the other side of the debate. I feel you laid an excellent foundation and example for him to build his life and values upon.

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  21. You should be very proud. You have been setting a wonderful example and he has been paying attention.

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  22. Brilliant mothering, my friend. Of course, as my own brilliant mother said 'we can only take half of the credit or half of the blame'.

    You have a full half coming to you for this. Good work.

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  23. You have every reason to be proud, he's a wise soul. Does he love Gonzaga?

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  24. How could you not be bursting with pride? He's such an impressive young man!

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