I just walked down the street to get some mail. I took a deep breath after a week of hard work, and thought about how happy I was that the smoke was finally, after a full week, forecasted to lift tomorrow morning. Then I opened the computer and felt my stomach go sour: after years of fragile health, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died at the age of 87.
I just got into a huge fight with my mom, who is just SO dismissive of me when I try to talk to her about politics and how scared and anxious I feel about the rapidly collapsing state of American society. She’s also a liberal so it’s not like I’m dealing with MAGA dissonance, but she just will not acknowledge that things are in crisis. I’m always overreacting, I’m always being dramatic. She meanwhile is living in her boomer bubble and I want to scream at her and say, chaos reigns and you are not safe from it.
All I want is to grieve with my closest girls, and we can’t bc of covid, which makes this all so much harder. I know that’s a shared experience so I’m here, on this comment thread, to offer my solidarity to other sisters wading through this alone
Thanks for this Anne. I could not possibly sit down and write something like this right now (or ever, probably, but you get the point). Tonight, I’m going to have a bourbon and go to sleep. Tomorrow, it’s time to fight.
From 'across the pond' - London, England - thank you for the reminder that there's more to the USA than Trump and his crowd. We have our own problems, but that's something else.
I have completely lost my words since finding out about RBG’s passing, but I am incredibly grateful that you haven’t. Thank you for sharing them tonight. ❤️
Thank you for this. FYI, as I understand it, “May her memory be a revolution” was originated by Israeli feminists in response to deaths of women from domestic violence. Since then US Jews have adopted it to describe the deaths of other marginalized people from violence as well as consistent fighters like RBG.
As someone who was firmly against the lionization of RBG, who was always quick to point out her more conservative stances... this one still rattled me to my core. The idea of a person’s last years and hours being consumed by a feeling of individual responsibility for our entire system is just too awful to imagine. Now it feels like a numb dread; as you point out, we know what’s going to happen re: nomination and confirmation. It’s just waiting to see which terrible form the future will take.
"may her memory be a revolution"
These words mean so much to me right now. Thank you, AHP. My heart is so heavy.
OMG. Thank you. You are always plugged into the exact right things to observe and write.
I just got into a huge fight with my mom, who is just SO dismissive of me when I try to talk to her about politics and how scared and anxious I feel about the rapidly collapsing state of American society. She’s also a liberal so it’s not like I’m dealing with MAGA dissonance, but she just will not acknowledge that things are in crisis. I’m always overreacting, I’m always being dramatic. She meanwhile is living in her boomer bubble and I want to scream at her and say, chaos reigns and you are not safe from it.
All I want is to grieve with my closest girls, and we can’t bc of covid, which makes this all so much harder. I know that’s a shared experience so I’m here, on this comment thread, to offer my solidarity to other sisters wading through this alone
Thanks for this Anne. I could not possibly sit down and write something like this right now (or ever, probably, but you get the point). Tonight, I’m going to have a bourbon and go to sleep. Tomorrow, it’s time to fight.
From 'across the pond' - London, England - thank you for the reminder that there's more to the USA than Trump and his crowd. We have our own problems, but that's something else.
Yes yes yes. I am so scared right now. My existential horror is all consuming.
Thank you.
I have completely lost my words since finding out about RBG’s passing, but I am incredibly grateful that you haven’t. Thank you for sharing them tonight. ❤️
Haunting yet beautiful essay. We are in mourning and in fear.
Thank you for this. FYI, as I understand it, “May her memory be a revolution” was originated by Israeli feminists in response to deaths of women from domestic violence. Since then US Jews have adopted it to describe the deaths of other marginalized people from violence as well as consistent fighters like RBG.
Your words say so well how I feel. Looking for that next right thing to take us forward into her revolution.
As someone who was firmly against the lionization of RBG, who was always quick to point out her more conservative stances... this one still rattled me to my core. The idea of a person’s last years and hours being consumed by a feeling of individual responsibility for our entire system is just too awful to imagine. Now it feels like a numb dread; as you point out, we know what’s going to happen re: nomination and confirmation. It’s just waiting to see which terrible form the future will take.