Jon, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the letters in this series. I recently kicked off a very similar email thread with my parents (after a disappointing attempt at a conversation in Dec 2020 and subsequent years of silence on the topic) and it also went poorly. I've been feeling so alone in my angst and it's validating to see others with the same struggle.
FWIW - Posting these has given me a sense of agency/freedom over it all. I suspect there are many thousands of us who tried to talk about reality with our family members and were shut down or shut out. A historical record of our efforts may one day mean a great deal more than we can know currently.
Thank you. I will be checking out yours. I thought my family was reachable and it was a bewildering and painful discovery that they were deeply invested in white christian nationalism and the whole MAGA brainwashing movement. They are lost.
Oof, I just read that last reply from your dad... brutal. My Dad's last email was longer and more eloquent, but the subject to shut up and drop it was the same. He also opined on the theme of "It is what it is", which just screams apathy to me. I haven't publicly posted my letters, but now I'm tempted to!
Jon thsnk you for your comment, but especially thank you for the link to your post. I restacked it, and as I said with an accompanying note, your piece is as powerful as it is personal. Extremely well done, and thank you for sharing
Jon, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the letters in this series. I recently kicked off a very similar email thread with my parents (after a disappointing attempt at a conversation in Dec 2020 and subsequent years of silence on the topic) and it also went poorly. I've been feeling so alone in my angst and it's validating to see others with the same struggle.
FWIW - Posting these has given me a sense of agency/freedom over it all. I suspect there are many thousands of us who tried to talk about reality with our family members and were shut down or shut out. A historical record of our efforts may one day mean a great deal more than we can know currently.
Thank you. I will be checking out yours. I thought my family was reachable and it was a bewildering and painful discovery that they were deeply invested in white christian nationalism and the whole MAGA brainwashing movement. They are lost.
Good luck out there.
Oof, I just read that last reply from your dad... brutal. My Dad's last email was longer and more eloquent, but the subject to shut up and drop it was the same. He also opined on the theme of "It is what it is", which just screams apathy to me. I haven't publicly posted my letters, but now I'm tempted to!
Jon thsnk you for your comment, but especially thank you for the link to your post. I restacked it, and as I said with an accompanying note, your piece is as powerful as it is personal. Extremely well done, and thank you for sharing
Thank you 🙏