Last night we went over to one of my daughters’ houses for a Mother’s Day dinner cooked on the grill by one of my sons-in-law in honor of all the mothers in the family. Steak, salmon, chicken, baked potatoes, string beans, the whole enchilada. He’s military so survival skills are his forte and cooking ranks high among them. After dinner was the ice cream cake and coffee. Superb. And for once Camera Girl didn’t have to cook a thing. Probably her favorite party of the year so far.
My granddaughter is three and a half now and so she’s finally old enough to start joining in with the younger boy cousins in running amok in the back yard and the basement. I’ve never seen a little girl so happy to be shooting and being shot with nerf rockets. It proves that she’s one of the big kids now.
Seeing how great all these kids are turning out is a remarkable source of pride for me. Of course, all the credit goes to Camera Girl. For all of her myriad annoying qualities she is the quintessential mom and grandma. Her instincts and her conscious efforts are all aligned around nurturing children. Of course, she’s much more laisse faire about nurturing husbands. Well, I guess no one’s perfect.
But it struck me reading all the nonsense about the Left rallying around abortion that these people are out of their minds. They’ve bought into a death cult that emphasizes short term convenience over sharing in the most rewarding institution in human relations, a large multigenerational family. And based on what I’ve been reading the present generation doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about abortion as the baby boomers were.
The various leftist opinion writers discussing the abortion panic are none too optimistic about either preventing Roe v. Wade being struck down or using the event as a successful rallying cry for the November mid-terms. They’ve gone through several stages of opinion on the whole issue and currently they’ve ended up at frustration. It’s frustration that they can’t move the needle on the Republican advantage in polls for the mid-terms and frustration that the voters, other than a noisy but narrow segment are unexcited by the SCOTUS opinion. It has escaped their notice that Antifa rioters don’t raise families or even engage in heterosexual relationships. To paraphrase a feminist expression, Antifa women need abortion like a fish needs a bicycle.
And speaking to some folks on our side, those who were most worried about a mid-term backlash against the SCOTUS decision now see the wisdom of direct action. One fellow admitted that plowing forward with the actions that we’ve said we’ve always wanted to see accomplished is the only way anything will ever get done. Hearing that was especially satisfying for me. I’ve been saying for years that pussyfooting around these actions is tantamount to surrendering to the Left. All it has done is acclimate the succeeding generations to permanent Leftist hegemony. Fighting these policies even if the battle goes back and forth is progress. Whining about not being ready until we have overwhelming odds in our favor is a fantasy that guarantees perpetual inaction.
So today I sent out invitations for the Memorial Day Weekend family barbecue. There I will see most of the closest relatives I have assembled together at the Compound for food and drink and hordes of children and grandchildren running around in circles and jumping in a swimming pool. We’re slowly putting all of the COVID nonsense in the rearview mirror and moving our lives back where they belong, together.
Happy Mother’s Day.
My Memorial Day weekend will be spent visiting various cemeteries. I have veteran relatives to honor, such as mom, dad and several uncles and cousins. I will also remember conrades who died in action or later after retirement. My Vietnam generation is fast aging. Most of us who were privates then are in our 70s now, and those who were officers and NCOs are even older. Many of us served well into the War on Terror and against Iraq and even Afghanistan, as well as many places that never made it in the news. For me and many others Memorial… Read more »
Days of remembrance are bittersweet but also comforting.