Asparagus for sale at Walmart.
Note: This is an extended version of the 771-word column I wrote for the Star-Herald on February 17, 2016. My columns at the newspaper were limited to 800 words. I didn’t have the chance to write exactly what I wanted at the time and each time I tell the story, people want more details. This is the full version I wanted to write then and finally had the time to sit down and complete.
Union soldiers entrenched along the west bank of the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, Virginia (111-B-157)
I see the cracks in the foundations of my country and wonder if anything I do, if the words I write might help stop it from crumbling.
Katie and Irene show off Gering and Scottsbluff from atop the Scotts Bluff National Monument. Photo by Katie Bradshaw.
I haven’t wanted to sit down and write anything since my mom passed away on April 2. Each time I get behind the keyboard, I get sad. Then, the words no longer come. Added to all this, my country has fallen into fascism. I am at a loss of what to do, where to go, and what direction I should be taking.
Throughout all of this, however, there has been the kindness of others who have reached out to me and I want to highlight that instead of the devastation that seems to be surrounding me.
It has been a harrowing nine months since my mother was in a head-on collision. Our lives were forever changed on July 15, 2024. Today, her suffering is over.
In eighth grade in New York State, my Social Studies class had one joint assignment. The entire class had to first memorize the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Then, on the appointed day of the assignment, each student walked up to the chalkboard and wrote a word or erased a word and placed the correct one in. We could continue as long as we wished until we decided together we were finished.
I am a big doofus who always forgets to smile. I hate selfies, but my head is warm.
As I pushed the door open to exit Great Clips, a wave of cold bashed me upside the head. It felt like a giant ice cube had immediately enveloped my head. “Shit,” I said. “I forgot my damn hat.”
This is exactly how Hitler took control of Germany.
In 53 days.
Cheetolini is not going to take that long.
Mrs. Blustein, my fifth grade teacher, brought a lady in to speak with us about politics. It was an election year and she was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She didn’t have to come and speak to a bunch of 11 year olds, but I was glad that she did because I found it fascinating. We were learning about how politics work and here was a lady willing to explain all to us and answer our most idiotic questions. It was 1982 and that visit set me on a path of becoming aware of what was going on in the world and how I might actually be able to help effect change.
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