Just Thank You

[Control-Z]

Posting a new thread here seemed the best way to respond back to your replies to my post from last Thursday, Remembering 42 years ago today. (I'm still new here and just recently found the “bookmarks” icon so I do not really know if or how any of you use it.) Responding to you while the thread was still active would have been my wish.

I want you to know that what may have seemed like a stony silence on my end was rather quiet time to reflect and to gather my emotions. I was so moved by your stories and honored that you would share them with me. They were thought provoking and enlightening and will not soon be forgotten. Your kind words and understanding overwhelmed me. And the contributions you made in my mother’s memory touched me in a way I did not expect.

I don't know how to thank you. You've given my mother back something I could never give - her dignity. Your humanity is like a blanket wrapped around her. I can't really explain. I just thank you, from the bottom of my heart.



(I hope you see this.)


edit to add: No need to reply. Just want to say thank you.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. No problem. Some of us do remember the time before Roe Vs. Wade.

[Control-Z]

29. I don't want to go back.

We should have learned.

[wicket]

2. Thank-you for opening up to us all

I was born after Roe v. Wade and have often taken it for granted. Thank-you for putting a human face on the struggles of women to have control over their bodies before this ruling.

:hug:


Edited to add: NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

[Control-Z]

27. ...

NEVER AGAIN!!!

[IsIt1984Yet]

3. No, thank YOU. Thank you for reminding us of what's really important

:hug:

[Control-Z]

31. ...

The life of the living, breathing woman.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. In truth, she never lost her dignity. She lost her life. But the story

of her struggle has saved her dignity, and brought dignity to all the women whose lives her story has saved.

[elehhhhna]

5. BrkLib, You said what I'm thinking. DancingAlone, peace to you.

[Jazz2006]

18. Indeed. Very well said, BrklynLiberal

And thank you again, dancingAlone, for sharing your story.

:hug:

[Control-Z]

24. Thank you, BrklynLiberal

That was nice to hear.

[IsIt1984Yet]

6. Everyone should take a break from the mess and read this.

:kick:

[Control-Z]

25. ...

Thanks ;)

[SeattleGirl]

7. Thank you, dancingAlone, for sharing you mother's story with us.

:hug:

[Control-Z]

30. Silence is consent.

I like that. It reminds me.

[UrbScotty]

8. As others have said on this thread, thank you for sharing.

:hug:

[Control-Z]

32. ...

Maybe it will make a difference someday. I hope.

[IsIt1984Yet]

9. .

:kick:

[me b zola]

10. (((((((((( dancingAlone ))))))))))

:grouphug:

[DemExpat]

11. Reply to kick this...

:hug:

DemEx

[IndyOp]

12. Your mother is one of my heroes -

She had courage.

Thank you for your posts.

[Control-Z]

34. Thank you.

She is my hero, always.

[renate]

13. thank you

I saw that picture when I was a kid and was always haunted by it... not just by the tragic, needless death but also by wanting to know who is she? I knew that to the people who knew and loved her she wasn't an anonymous symbol--she was a real person who loved and was loved. What was her story? Who did she leave behind? It broke my heart to know more about her death than about her life.

You answered those questions for me and for many of us here who'd wondered the same things. Thank you.

:hug:

[Hamlette]

14. I didn't reply to the first thread

but it will haunt me forever.

You, through your mother, reminded me of why we must never give up.

[ismnotwasm]

15. Thank you

Your mother will always have a piece of my heart and my mind.
:hug:
And one for all of us

:grouphug:

[ljm2002]

16. Hi dancingAlone...

...just read your original post now, to see what the Thank You was for.

Wow.

Such a profound thing to share.

It was good of you to do so, and blew me away as it did others. How hard for you to live with that, yet how important to come to terms. You did so IMO in the best possible way.

Let us hope we can do away with such occurrences once and for all. It is frightening indeed, how fast we are moving back to the pre-Roe v Wade era -- just amazing that it could be so.

Best wishes to you and yours, and a special prayer for your mother, God rest her soul.

[ninkasi]

17. Thank you for your courage

in sharing your mother's story with us. I know, in the depths of my heart, that she made a painful decision, but only a mother who loves her children as deeply as she loved you could have summoned the courage to do what she thought she had to, to keep on being able to care for you.

If telling your story, and hearing our responses helped you, I'm very happy that it did. Your mother passed her courage on to you, and I hope you know that the best part of her lives through you. Your mother was one in a number of unsung women, making agonizing decisions based on what she thought best at the time. I'm glad you can cherish her memory.

[Suich]

19. Thank you, dancingAlone...take care.

:hug:

[byronius]

20. I've been thinking about your post for a week.

Thank you for posting it. I've talked about it to people. My heart is still broken.

[Spazito]

21. Thank you for bringing back into focus a very important freedom

your mother died for and that we are in danger of losing that right all over again. Your courage in sharing your very personal sadness is inspiring.

[femrap]

22. I attended hearings in Ohio on HB 228 this Tuesday....

HB 228 is the meannest anti-choice law facing the 50 states. It goes further than S. Dakota in that anyone who assists a woman across the stateline so to avoid compulsory motherhood could face up to 15 years in prison.

Anyway, my point is....I told another woman at the hearings about you and your mother. I told her of your post on DU and how you had touched me and so many others.

Why do organized religions feel it necessary to oppress women? Are they really that insecure?

[Control-Z]

28. This is all so hard for me to digest.

If only I could put into words what is in my heart - all that I know to be true...

I would be fighting right next to you if I lived in Ohio.
Please keep telling my mother's story whenever you feel it's right - when you think it might help.

Thank you, femrap, for standing up and fighting.

[Maat]

23. You are in my (affirmative) prayers, dancingAlone!

Your post inspired me. You see, I remember taking a 'funny' trip to San Francisco with my mother and her rich, Republican millionaire boyfriend (my sister and I 'had' to come along on this 'family' vacation). That was before abortion was legal. I later found out that, while he was articulating his 'conservative values' ad nauseum, he was taking her to have an illegal abortion in San Francisco.

Yes, I remember the days prior to its legalization.

And your post has re-energized me; I will fight long and hard to preserve reproductive rights so that another tragedy does not happen again!

Peace and prosperity and health to you!

[REP]

26. You're Wrong About Something

Of course you gave your mother back her dignity, and you didn't need help to that. You did it by being her daughter, by living your life, and by doing what you can to remind everyone that human rights are women's rights. You did it just by being you.

Personally, though, I don't think she ever lost her dignity. She lost her fight with a stupid, inhumane system and lost her life. Countless people should be shamed by the police photograph - but not her.

[tinfoil tiaras]

33. I saw that picture before...

but I didn't know she was your mother. Wow. I'm only 14 (so I have no recollection of what the time before Roe v. Wade was like) but it scares the bejeebers out of me to see states like South Dakota outlaw abortion. I always seem like the only pro-choice person in the world, because EVERYONE around me is caught up in all that anti-choice (that's their real name...none of that "pro-life" bullshit) crap...

Republicans are oh so "pro-life"...:sarcasm:

Thanks for sharing! :grouphug:

[robinlynne]

35. Thank-you for your original post and for this thank-you.

Of course you gave back your mother's dignity. you did it in your post. by telling her story. by making it meaningful, and by making us all want to fight to save other women from the same tragedy. Her dignity is very much alive in you and will always be. Don't ever doubt that.
Those who attempt to enslave others in any way lose their dignity. certainly not you or your family!