srennes

We teach girls shame; close your legs, cover yourself, we make them feel as though being born female they’re already guilty of something.

I got my mother’s insanity and her trust issues and my father’s temper and his secretive ways. They never were the most stable people. Imagine what I’m like when I’m the two of them together as one person…

I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.

Almost every time I go to this cafe in the late afternoon, I see the couple sitting at the same window table. They are both attractive, middle aged, and well dressed. The one really noticeable thing about them is the woman’s auburn red hair. I’m always pleased to see them because they appear to be genuinely content with each other’s company. They are almost always reading magazines or newspapers and drinking something. They rarely speak to each other but there is a peace around them, a balance you can almost physically see in certain couples. When one has finished with their reading material they automatically hand it to their partner. The other takes it without a word and lays it down on the seat between them. The person without the magazine drinks their coffee or looks out the window until the other is finished reading. Then they talk for a brief time, sometimes laughing quietly, always paying full attention to what is being said. They are like an island of tranquility in the middle of all the human rush. Seeing them, watching them, invariably makes me feel a little better.

To my future son, when you come home smiling after a long day, I will ask you whether it’s a boyfriend or a girlfriend who has made you smile. To my future daughter, when I see you secretly smiling down at your phone, I will ask you whether it’s a boyfriend or a girlfriend who has made you smile. To my future children, I will not stick within the confines of asking my son if he has a girlfriend or if my daughter has a boyfriend. From a young age you will be taught that whether you bring a boy or a girl home, as long as they make you smile then that will make me smile.