There is so much swirling in my brain and I have post-it after post-it stuck around my house with Things To Say and Ask but now that I’m here all I can manage is uff da.
I turned 40 the day after Roe should have turned 50. I am living a life where my daughter has FEWER rights that I grew up with. For the first fucking time, rights are being RESCINDED by the Supreme Court. We’re moving backwards.
Sunday, Bean and I went to our local #BiggerThanRoeRally. I explained that people in Wisconsin were now trapped under a law from 1859. That women in our country aren’t being allowed to make decisions about their own bodies and healthcare.
Abortion is Healthcare. Healthcare is a right. Abortion is a RIGHT.
Bean wore a bright pink shirt that said “Keep your laws off my magical body” and on the back “My Body Belongs to Me.” She made her own sign, with a unicorn on it.
Our Congressman, Mike Thompson was there, Bean met him in 2018 at Rock the Ride. I reminded her of him and she said “Oh yeah, we ride bikes together” (the chutzpah, I love it). He spoke, and our amazing Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry spoke (we are so lucky to have her).
Women who remember life before Roe spoke. Teenage girls who’ve watched their rights be chipped away got up and spoke. It was really something.
Though my favorite was the young man, maybe 20 (maaaaybe), who stopped by the table to clarify why exactly we were there. “Wait, pro-Roe or anti-Roe?” He asked with his pen suspended. “Pro. And Roe was the floor, not the ceiling. We need more than Roe.” “Oh good,” he said. “I don’t have money or anything, but I have time and energy to give.” That’s what we need most dude.
He signed up. He’s gonna text bank to Wisconsin. “Oh, I can totally do that!” he filled with pride. Some of the dudes are okay.
Meanwhile the toll of gun violence shatters my heart again and again.
I am made of shattered pieces. This does not make be broken. It means I am rebuilt. Reformed.
I should also go have breakfast.
Have *you* chewed anything recently?
Much love to y’all, it’s hard out there. You are loved by me and others.
xox
Pretty Good Ugly 