Oh, shut up, Gal!

Sometimes I can be such a bossy pants. If things don't go exactly the way I think they should, I can really make myself heard. I'm not always right, you know. I can be an ass. Like this afternoon.

For months I've been after Henry to call Dr. Rivera. She's the shrink he saw several times back in 2019, not too long after his accident. Actually, she saw Henry and Reg together, trying to help them adjust to their new reality. Henry felt a great affinity toward her. Reg endured those sessions.

Anyway, Henry has had trouble communicating with people. He can be insensitive. He can be self-centered. The negative reaction he gets leaves him feeling isolated and lonely. "So call Dr. Rivera!" I've said time and again.

First, the good news: he called her. He has an appointment next week.

Now the bad news: he made an appointment for couples counseling.  

The problem with their marriage, as I see it, is that Henry has a traumatic brain injury and has done little if any rehabilitation. He's got to work at getting better, and he doesn't know how. Reg doesn't know how to help him. Reg wasn't impressed by Dr. Rivera. So couples counseling could well be a waste of time.

I made myself clear this afternoon, and I was wrong.

The important thing is that Henry wants to get help. Sought help. That took courage. That shows growth. Just because it wasn't exactly as I'd wanted it or envisioned it doesn't mean it wasn't worthy of support and celebration.

I apologized for being such an ass. Henry argued with me. "No, you're not. You are smart and you love me."

I am smart. I do love him. And I'm an ass.

I was wrong. Whatever goes down next week with Dr. Rivera, it shows progress. I'm grateful and impressed.

Do people even believe this anymore?

Read the story here

"The freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble is enshrined in the Constitution in the United States, and we have an election coming up this fall." With a straight face, Mike Pence said that to defend the virtually mask-free MAGA rallies.

The question that elicited this response was asked by a reporter wearing a mask. The Vice President understood it perfectly. Masks don't inhibit free speech.

Never mind that the Tulsa venue was famously not full, and the campaign could have encouraged social distancing. It just didn't.

It's obvious that neither the President nor the Vice President cares about public safety as much as they care about pandering to their base.

Their base: Those who complain more about masks than they do the lack of affordable health care; those who worry more about the retirement of Aunt Jemima than the murder of George Floyd. Some are even concerned about "reverse racism." Trump supporters are so infatuated with their own imagined victimhood that they imagine white people will soon be at the mercy of people of color. Never mind that racism is about resources and power, and people of color don't have enough of either to "oppress" these frightened whites.

It must be awful to be so perpetually afraid of "them." So terrified that people you don't know and don't understand will try to take what they believe is their birthright. I feel sorry for Trump supporters. Especially because they have put their faith into two men who care more about campaign optics than the corona virus.

THIS JUST IN! Since I posted this Saturday night, the Vice President has announced he will:

•  Visit Dallas, despite "a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic that health experts warn could cripple hospital systems and stall the economic recovery."

•  Wait to headline campaign events in Florida and Arizona "amidst spikes in coronavirus cases." 

I choose to look at this as glass as half (or 1/3) full.

But I don't want to go to Austin

Yet it looks like that's where I'm headed. My oldest friend's son is getting married there next April. I just got a "SAVE THE DATE" announcement from him.

I don't want to go, of course. I never enjoy weddings. To be honest, I'm not that crazy about this kid, either. During his teen years and into his early 20s, he controlled his mother (my friend) with his violent temper. I suppose it's possible that he's outgrown all that and, as he approaches 30, is a fine, upstanding citizen. (I'll believe that if you will.)

But my friend seems to think she needs me there. And I get it. If there was any way I could get her to accompany me to my niece's upcoming wedding, I'd snap at it. We've known each other so long, understand one another so well, and trust one another. We're closer than sisters. I'll have her back, she knows it and that's important to her.

I just wish she wasn't so broke and so fragile that she can't come to my niece's wedding with me.