Mary Beth Writes

Regarding Texas: I’m so angry today.

From The Buried: An Archeology of the Egyptian Revolution by Peter Hessler

Hessler is making a case that a significant reason for the failure of Egyptian governments is because citizens are not looking for competent political leaders. They vote for men who lambast the “corruption and immorality” of present leaders. They vote for those who promise a “return to our traditional Islamist values.”

1. At Wheaton College in the early 70’s I was friends with D. She told me that over sophomore Christmas break she had had an abortion. She and her boyfriend had been together for a year. “We never went all the way because we knew we were supposed to wait for marriage.”

But they went pretty far and yes, one can get pregnant if they are unclothed and very, very close.  She said that the abortion is what broke her hymen. 

Abortion was not legal that year, 1972. Her rich, Southern evangelical Christian parents took her to a women’s health clinic in Pennsylvania where abortion was legal and safe.

She and that boy broke up later. He was very celebrated on campus for his good looks and creativity. I remember that.

2. I worked in the credit department at Marshall Field’s in Chicago where I met people who would influence my whole life. L was one of them. She was in her 40’s, had luscious wavy auburn hair, and always wore pretty dresses and low heels. Occasionally we took our coffee break together. One morning we were talking about romance and boyfriends and my life and hers. More about me than her because she was such a good listener. It was easy to make her laugh.

That morning, when I asked why she hadn’t had kids, she said that she had had an illegal 'botched abortion' in her twenties in the 1960’s. She almost bled to death. She went to a hospital where they saved her life but not her uterus. This lovely nurturing women never had children because she hadn’t had access to a safe medical procedure.

3. I have more stories and so do you. Today, in light of Texas’ new, draconian law, many of us are remembering our friends’ stories, our relatives’ stories, and our stories.

Send money to Planned Parenthood or some other pro-women organization. And then take care of yourself.   

 

Comments

Remembering - yes we are. Thanks for writing this.

I support Planned Parenthood, my kids even make donations in my name for Mother’s Day! In 1965 I was 17 years old, my friend aborted herself. Years before she had overheard some women in her backwoods family talking about a “recipe” that would do the deed. She mixed up the stuff, drank it while away from home and after horrible cramps, her “ period” started. Wow, just wow! Other, wealthy girls I knew went out of the country. There will always be abortions, safe is better.
Mary Beth's picture

So many scary stories. So many women twisting their physical and spiritual selves into pretzels just to survive.

I am so heavy hearted. The same people that take away the ability of a woman to get a safe abortion, won't wear a mask (which might possibly save a life) in the name of freedom. ..... Patricia

In light of your post, I have made a donation to Planned Parenthood and Texas Equal Access Fund. Sometimes I just need a reminder. I'm glad there are people around like you to do the reminding.

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Be a (bit of a) Scientist This Summer!

3/23/2023

This is an updated rerun of a story I posted last spring.

This is about Stream Monitoring and How to Do It. You don’t have to be a man to do this, but many are and that’s as close to the obvious joke as I’m going to go.

Len and his volunteer pal Tom enjoy this volunteer gig a lot. Once each month in the summer they go to the same stretch of the same stream to check water quality and to discover what creatures are lurking in the water and muck.  

A-Z Ice Cream & Marco Polo

DQ will never look the same. This photo is of a patio where one eats their gelato, somewhere in Italy. 

...

3/22/2023

What is the thing most people spend a great deal of time, energy, and money keeping off our necks and out of our homes?

Chilly air

What is ice cream?

Chilly air with sugar.

Igloos

3/16/2022

We are working our way through an Alphabet of Topics and we are currently considering the letter I. Two days ago, I wrote about Idiosyncrasies. Today is Igloo. Next up is Ice Cream.

So here we are again with nervous banks and a jumpy stock market and we “commoners” quietly peruse how many bags of beans we have in the pantry. I hope by the time I finish and post this the news is more stable, but I doubt it. “May you live in interesting times.” Right?

You know what I learned while researching igloos?

I is for Idiosyncrasy - "I'm not goofy. You are..."

3/14/2023  (Happy Pi Day)

Idiosyncrasies are like cave drawings; enigmatic clues that say once upon a time something happened here. A story unfolded. Someone tried to solve a problem. The solution worked, or at least it kept the person comfortable or comforted long enough for the idiosyncratic habit to form.

A-Z Humor Me

Humor 3/8/2023

I heard this joke in a sermon in 1974. I heard that highly revered minister preach at least a hundred sermons and this is the ONLY thing I remember him saying.  

A guy loses his job and is desperate for a new one with which to support his precious family. Nothing turns up until one day the newspaper Help Wanted Ads (so now you know how old this jokes really is) says the zoo has an opening. Guy applies. The HR person looks worried and then says the zoo changed its mind, the job is too demeaning. Guy says he’s desperate, will take anything.

A-Z Heaven ...

3/3/2023

First of all, you should realize that tomorrow is March 4th which is the only date of the year which tells you what to do. Hah.

This week I was amazed by this map/representation of the process of the creation of a new star. A year ago, there were no visuals of this process. What you are looking at is cutting-edge stuff observed and collaborated by 90 astronomers worldwide.

That + in the middle is the new star that right now is bigger than our sun. We know it’s young and new because it’s growing.

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