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What Ruth Bader Ginsburg Means to Me and My Deceased Republican Mom
A true hero is gone — and now I hope that someone profound will take her place. I had hoped and wished that she would hold on for a few months, but for some crazy reason, 2020 continues to be one of the weirdest and most frustrating years of my lifetime.
“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.” — RGB
I find these words so powerful. When my mom was near the end of her life, one day she pulled me aside and began weeping. She told me that she wished she would have had the confidence and the support from her parents to do something profound with her life. Having been born in 1938 in a conservative family, it just wasn’t “normal” for a woman to become a lawyer.
“They use to refer to women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg as ‘strange’ or ‘odd’ or ‘that way,’” explained Mom.
“What do you mean by ‘that way’”, I asked.
“Like, a lesbian,” Mom explained.
“Like me?” I asked.
Mom laughed a bit. “I know, it’s so stupid, isn’t it?
