Colleen, 1/16/24
I don't know where to begin. When I was in my 20s, young, married, and raising two kids, I moved with my family from CA to my husband's native OH. My mother, stepdad, sister and brother all ended up in the Phoenix AZ area.
I am very much like my mother, but thank God I ended up thinking a lot more like my English teacher dad, who lives in OR with my stepmother.
My mother was once a kind, compassionate person who taught me to respect the office of president, and treat all others with kindness. The underdogs were to be encouraged and given a sense of acceptance. As a once shy kid, this was what kept me strong within and shaped who I am today.
Politicians were folks in the background of our life, showing up only in news stories that my parents watched at night--back when news was just news.
Over the last 3 decades, I sensed a change , but ever so gradually. And yes, my own sense of politics developed as well, as I learned more about religion's influence on politicians and who supports them, and I began to lean more and more liberal due to conservative viewpoints alienating and marginalizing folks who didn't deserve it. My mother, on the other hand, began to slowly slide down the anger rabbit hole.
Arizonans are very entrenched with illegal immigration, and she began lamenting about foreigners "stealing our jobs." Weird. The Obama years exposed an underlying prejudice within my mother and my stepdad, both of whom are viewed as good people, hard working, honest, etc.
But, I saw the anger rising during those years, and it concerned me deeply. Obama was trying to resolve the health care crisis, and all they could do was comment about how much they hated him. Why?? Because he was trying to help all Americans have access to health care?
My little brother began to slide down the anger rabbit hole as well, but knowing my view points, seemed to be more sensitive about the issues not creating a divide between us, but at the end of tRumps first term, he was convinced the election was stolen. He had become a huge gun enthusiast and seemed to start to believe in the conspiracy theories he and I once made fun of. Ironically,
I lost my little brother to COVID in 2021. I am still infuriated to this day about my family's lack of insight into how this happened—thanks to the Fox lying machine that has taken them over. My mother is sadly convinced the blame lies with Dr. Fauci and not tRump.
How??? How can she possibly believe that? I even tried to show her proof from reliable news sources (and mind you, I worked for a radio news station!) that the accusations toward Fauci were false. She would have none of that--in her view, Fauci killed her baby. Just makes me sick.
One of the worst moments was well before that, when my brother attended a tRump rally in 2016, and he videoed a quick shot of my mother, smiling dopily and waving a pom-pom at him. I was floored.
My mother would have NEVER put up with any politician talking the way tRump does, but there she was, my goody two-shoes mother, supporting it fully! It was like I didn't know her anymore. I was shattered when I saw that--it was my first confirmation that she supported tRump. We really never talked about it before that.
Anyway, I've been coming out to AZ in the winter to escape the cold of OH and brought my horse to ride. Being around my mom was part of the deal, but this year she's blown it by showing me full-force her hate for Biden when he appeared randomly on TV and I just wanted to hear what he was saying.
She became livid, exploded and left the room. Never in my life did I think my mother would have that much hate in her heart--and oh, she's a "Christian." What a joke. Thankfully, I have friends here in AZ and choose to spend my time with them and enjoying my horse and the abundant sunshine.