I took a pregnancy test this morning. Even though I was relatively confident that would be the result, I still cried when it showed negative. And then the rest of the day happened.
How can I consider bringing a child into the world when crazy things like today’s shootings take place? How will I (with my own fragile mental state) let my babies go to school, go to church, go to playgroup when it seems nothing is safe?
When the need for this conversation took place several years ago, my dad said there was nothing right about a child dying before the parent. It’s just NOT supposed to happen. I can’t imagine how parents are dealing with this, even if their kids are still coming home tonight.
If you asked, I’d tell you I’m against racial profiling. I’m a fan of giving handicapped people jobs and gay folks the right to get married. But for goodness sake, let’s keep an extra eye on those with mental health issues. I’m fortunate that my woohoo paralyzes me vs. calls me to action, but you better bet I wouldn’t question for a second if someone gave me more than the side eye if I started going even slightly (more) off my rocker. In fact, I would welcome it. Having these diseases means you spend too much time in your own head. When left alone, it gets even easier to do. Usually, simply talking to someone will make my panic attacks disappear.
I know a lot of folks will take this time to discuss our right to own guns. I’ve got my opinions on this one, but I don’t think now is the time. Rather, I think we need to educate ourselves on the various states of mental health issues and how we can help. We can make those with these diseases feel comfortable talking about it vs. giving it time to fester and to become an emergency of such great scale.
It’s probably rude of me to take this time to give you my opinion, even if this is where those opinions live. So let me leave it at that and say my hearts are with all parents; those that have children, have lost children, or only have children on the horizon. May your memories be great and your future bright.
