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Nicknames show up in funny ways.\u00a0 Some may spring from characters in music, books, or movies, but others, perhaps, from the times in which we live.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s the case for the moniker that recently came to mind for my granddaughter.\u00a0 You can count on one thing with certainty when it comes to Sis, who is now a Large Four Years Old: \u00a0Force of will shows up at the front of the line ahead of reason or other emotions, insisting on precedence.<\/p>\n
So, I started calling her Sister Resister.<\/p>\n
The first time I used this title out loud, proof of veracity arrived faster than a Prime package at the front door.\u00a0 She scowled and muttered darkly, \u201cDon\u2019t call me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet in hardly any time at all (and with the help of her creative mother), she had re-imagined the title completely, anointing herself with the status of Super Hero.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, Evie!\u201d she shouted exultantly, striking a wide-footed, super-hero stance and planting fists at her waist, elbows bent.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m SISTER RESISTER!!\u201d\u00a0 This was followed by a triumphant cackle, head thrown back, decidedly worthy of the Wicked Witch of the West.<\/p>\n
And there, I confess, I hope the idea roots firmly in her heart.\u00a0 It\u2019s enthralling to watch a child so bold, so determined, so insistently fearless.\u00a0 Maybe that\u2019s because when I was her age, I was the complete opposite. \u00a0They called me Fraidy Cat, and there was plenty of evidence: I sobbed on the back of our pinto pony during the Christmas picture photo session, even when the poor animal was held tightly in place and motionless.\u00a0 I cowered in the seat behind my father in the ski boat, clinging tightly to his back when the boat thumped merrily over waves.\u00a0 Meanwhile, my braver, carefree sisters perched madly in the far front bow, hoping to be bounced as hard as possible.\u00a0 I can\u2019t for the life of me see, looking back, why I was like that.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think I chose the nickname to egg on this child who needs no encouragement to assert herself.<\/p>\n
Or did I?\u00a0 \u00a0Doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 If she sees those qualities in herself, that\u2019s everything she may someday need.\u00a0 For me, circumstances were the great modifiers, many, many years after I feared bouncing boats and ponies.\u00a0 Life took certain turns that called for certain responses, and fear, by default, became something that could be considered later, at some other time.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s accurate to call that courage so much as a predisposition for action.\u00a0 My dad used to voice a simple credo for difficult situations:\u00a0 Do Something, Even if it\u2019s Wrong.<\/p>\n
Who knows what adversities may someday require super-hero strength from Sis?\u00a0 In the public arena, a recent parade of examples has marched past, flags waving.<\/p>\n
Maybe someday she\u2019ll need to resist like Taylor Swift, who stood up to a powerful music industry personality who abused his position and degraded her in public.\u00a0 Taylor stood firm all the way to trial, and when the court ruled in her favor, she asked for $1.\u00a0 The real victory, she said, was the opportunity to publicly encourage other women to speak up and refuse to be silenced by mistreatment.<\/p>\n
Or maybe she\u2019ll need to persist like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was forced into silence on the floor of the Senate for the letter she was reading about the civil rights track record of a key presidential appointee.\u00a0 Justifying his procedural action in the face of subsequent criticism, the Senate majority leader ignited international response with this statement:\u00a0 \u201cShe was warned.\u00a0 She was given an explanation.\u00a0 Nevertheless, she persisted.\u201d\u00a0 (Thank you, Senator, for the deeply inspiring call to action for women everywhere.\u00a0 T-shirt vendors are still counting money as I write this.)<\/p>\n
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And then there was Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who resisted attempts to derail her questioning on the House floor on the basis of procedural time limitations.\u00a0 She responded by persistently invoking a procedural proclamation of her own: \u201cReclaiming my time.\u00a0 Reclaiming my time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our Sister Resister is too young now to understand the momentous impact of these women, who are facing down the renewed adversity and conflict in our tumultuous contemporary times.\u00a0 Those of us of a certain age watched first-hand the earlier footsteps of women who fought 50 years ago for equal pay, an end to gender discrimination, and other protections.\u00a0 History is, of course, full of earlier examples, and I hope someday she\u2019ll learn about and honor them.\u00a0 The famous Resisters, as well as the countless women who persist in the face of private adversity in daily life–all surely called on super-hero strength to stand tall when needed.<\/p>\n
So I say: Onward, Sister Resister.\u00a0 Start learning now to stand up and speak out.\u00a0 Refuse to be derailed if you believe you are right.\u00a0 You might be mocked like Warren or groped like Swift, or even bounced out of a motorboat, but you have what it takes to carry on. \u00a0I can see it as clearly as the blue in your eyes.<\/p>\n
Because scripture may foretell that the meek will inherit the earth, but She Who Resists, and Persists, can change it forever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nicknames show up in funny ways.\u00a0 Some may spring from characters in music, books, or movies, but others, perhaps, from the times in which we live. I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s the case for the moniker that recently came to mind for my granddaughter.\u00a0 You can count on one thing with certainty when it comes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grandkids","category-humor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}