I gave my daughter a ride last night to meet her friends. You know how teenagers are, always shirking responsibility and hanging out and stuff? I dropped her off in a parking lot next to a row of mostly unmarked office buildings. There was a small group of her hooligan friends already there, loitering in the parking lot.....PRAYING THE ROSARY....... in front of an abortion clinic.
That was a really hard thing for me to do, to take her there in the first place, willingly and supportively. I've mentioned this before here, that she and I have agreed to disagree on this topic, but part of me really wanted to roll down the window and scream at these young girls "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD WE WORKED TO ACHIEVE REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM IN THIS COUNTRY ?????"
But I didn't do that, because they don't actually know how hard we worked, nor would they understand it or be impressed by it, and I guess that's the way it goes. So, I just smiled, and told her I loved her, and drove away in a surreal state of mystification.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she wouldn't be who she is able to be, today, without the blood and sweat of generations of women who paved the way for her to be a member of a society where the choices she makes she is able to make so freely. Yet, because the road has been paved so smoothly now, for so long, I fear that she is not able to appreciate how dusty and full of potholes it truly used to be.
That was a really hard thing for me to do, to take her there in the first place, willingly and supportively. I've mentioned this before here, that she and I have agreed to disagree on this topic, but part of me really wanted to roll down the window and scream at these young girls "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD WE WORKED TO ACHIEVE REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM IN THIS COUNTRY ?????"
But I didn't do that, because they don't actually know how hard we worked, nor would they understand it or be impressed by it, and I guess that's the way it goes. So, I just smiled, and told her I loved her, and drove away in a surreal state of mystification.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she wouldn't be who she is able to be, today, without the blood and sweat of generations of women who paved the way for her to be a member of a society where the choices she makes she is able to make so freely. Yet, because the road has been paved so smoothly now, for so long, I fear that she is not able to appreciate how dusty and full of potholes it truly used to be.
I can relate. My daughter and I have several major issues we disagree on but we agree to disagree. I love her so much for her passion and that she has her own ideas. Her ideas will change over time. Especially when she has children of her own.
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