When my son was 7 months old my mother had a massive stroke that almost killed her – she was only 59 and it just about shattered my world. She was my biggest cheerleader and my staunchest advocate. My son was her first grand-baby and she was in the room with me when I gave birth. She was his first babysitter and I called her just about daily with whatever was going on with him. We visited weekly after he was born and I remain profoundly grateful for that time together. All of this to say that after her stroke when we finally got her home, even with fairly profound aphasia she was able to give me some advise that has always shaped my life.

He's his own little person you know.

Growing up my mother never made me feel less than (unlike my father). She was always straight forward yet kept a bit of that "mom always knows" mysticism. She elegantly skated that fine line between honesty and keeping my baby sis and I sheltered from stuff we didn't need to know. For example, we were pretty poor when I was young but I had no clue that we were until years later. I guess I should've known just from the fact that we had a tiny black and white TV while my best friends family had a giant color TV but it was just how things were. She never complained and never put either of us girls in a bad spot between her and our father. When he went off she would only step in when he was being completely unfair, otherwise we knew she was on our side and would come to us after, which we were fine with. Without saying a word we just seemed to understand how our family dynamic worked. Us girls would just share glances with each other that my dad was completely oblivious to (or just ignored) that kept us more or less on an even keel.

Even though my father could be an emotionally abusive asshat, he certainly wasn't all bad. With a different woman, perhaps he would've been the sort of parent who thought their children were possessions. Not with my mother, though. Her core belief that children were their own people always shone through and it was lesson I never really needed to be told, it was a fact of our lives. And, again, I am profoundly grateful.

Many years later my sister in law (who was one of my best friends from 3rd period biology class on the first day of our freshman year in high school) would tell me the story of her mom calling mine in a quandary over some dress Ann (my now sis in law) wanted to wear to some shin dig the two of them were going to. Ann's mom was concerned the outfit was "too revealing," and my mom pointed out that Ann was an adult and could wear whatever she wanted. Rachel (Ann's mom) didn't like that answer. Ann had an enviable hour glass figure and was well endowed so, unless she wore a turtleneck muumuu, any dress would reveal something. In my mind I see an off the shoulder floral number with a full skirt so it's not like Ann wanted to wear a strapless micro-mini. My mother knew Ann quite well and treated her as she treated everybody - especially children - as their own people. I think she tried to impart that wisdom onto Rachel who begrudgingly accepted it and Ann did, indeed, wear that dress (and looked spectacular).

Growing up, my mother never interfered in our friendships. If she was iffy about a person she'd allow us to come to our own realizations and later say, "I never liked so-and-so," lol. And she trusted us to eventually come to these realizations in our own time. Aloud she informed us that she would always believe our teachers over us so we knew not to try to lie. However, when we were treated unfairly, she stood up for us. Yet another balancing act she seemed to pull off with ease although I now know that it wasn't really all that easy. But when you make the effort to get to know your children as people you understand them far better than they understand themselves and it give you keen insight into their psyches. Which you always hold with loving kindness because of the respect you've afforded them as their birthright.

After mom's stroke and our fight to get her home I was sitting with her as she sat up in bed with a breakfast tray on her lap. My 11 month old son toddled in, looked around, and toddled out. Mom pointed her spoon at me and said, clear as a bell, "he's his own person you know." I did know and that is how I have always treated him. Today he's a strapping 6 foot tall full grown man with a glorious head of hair, a keen mind and wit, and a gentle nature. He doesn't smoke (unlike my hubby and I), very rarely drinks and has never done a single drug. And absolutely none of this was my doing, I do not take credit – it's all him. However, I did raise him as his own person. I'm not nearly as good of a mother as my own was but I try.

The impetus for this article is because I just watched CLR Bruce Rivers video regarding the death of his son and my heart breaks. My own son will be 27 years old this year, the same age as Michael, and I cannot imagine how devastated Bruce is. Watching their interactions for the past few years reminds me of mine with my son so I get the feeling Bruce raised his son much as I raised mine (and how I was raised). He is not responsible for his son's choices and, for those who are less than gracious, you should know that none of us parents are. We do our best and also hope for the best when we send our children out into the world. We are there for our offspring, we help as much as we are allowed, we try to give them soft landing places. We do not dictate to them, we do not try to force them to do anything, we understand that our children are not possessions, they are people. We love them unconditionally, we're always proud and we keep our disappointment to ourselves unless it's a gentle learning lesson for their greater good.

Being able to engage in a sort of "read only" mode on X to peek at the accounts of those that have blocked you is both a blessing and a curse. Just recently it helped confirm to me that the boundary I set was my best course of action. However, their comments are in complete opposition to my experience.

The most dangerous psychological mistake is the projection of the shadow on to others; this is the root of almost all conflicts. ~Carl Jung

I've seen the phrase "confession through projection" referred to as the art of gaslighting. Viva Frei, who coined it, once opined that it represents a “total lack of self-awareness that would be funny if it weren’t so sad.”

In narcissistic abuse it's called DARVO: Deny and reverse victim and offender.

When it comes to the demise of a 2 year friendship, it just sucks. I honestly did not think this would be the outcome when I left the chat group, left the Discord server, left the YouTube channel. I figured I could go back once things calmed down. I only get that dramatic to make a point, generally I'm fairly laid back. When others were booted and blocked I wondered if my actions had bigger consequences than I ever imagined.

Questioning my behaviors and feelings these last few days, not to justify my actions but in an attempt to understand the situation, I wonder if I ever saw things as they truly were. Perhaps this outcome was always inevitable. shrug This is not the first person I've shed since I left Popcorned Planet but it is the one who's been around the longest, excluding our core group.

One person hiding most of their channel does not make Andy Signore any less of a reprehensible asshat no matter how many "andy was right" hashtags you use. There are too many he has harmed, too many that have seen his behavior, to be completely silenced. And I imagine they won't take kindly to being thrown under the bus. Not because of anything said aloud, but because they will also be able to also see your behavior. Truth will always prevail.

I'm not an expert in anything but even I know that ballistics is being called into question and has been for awhile now - Firearm Forensics on Trial and supporting amicus brief. These questions arise regarding fired rounds which means those that are simply cycled through a firearm should should be questioned even more. The idea of a bunch of fired rounds being compared to a cycled round until some sort of nebulous match is found leading to the conclusion that a gun couldn't be excluded is pretty much the definition of a "nothing burger" IMO. And it gets quite problematic when a so-called "forensics expert" opines that this "evidence" actually does hold some weight.

It's arguably worse when a forensic psychiatrist seemingly doesn't see problems with so-called "confessions" given by a man that's showing signs of psychosis after being held in solitary confinement in prison for over a year as a pre-trial detainee. 

However, all of this pales in comparison to a judicial system that stomps all over a person's due process and throws their rights out the window. When evidence that should've been thrown out is allowed in while evidence that is exculpatory is tossed we should all be concerned. It's like living in upside down backward world. We saw this in the Karen Read trial but it's far worse in Richard Allen's case. And those that refuse to see the parallels are deluded, IMO.

Any one of us or a family member or friend could easily be in the defendants' shoes which is a scary proposition. It's cases such as these that starkly outlines giant problems in our legal system. Law enforcement and district/assistant district attorneys are lying right to our faces and most seem completely unbothered by it, which baffles me. They're not shit talking sports figures, they are officers of the court FFS. Even if you think Karen and/or Rick are guilty you should be outraged by things like evidence being gathered in solo cups and other items found well after a crime scene has been released which means that chain of custody is nonexistent.

I don't even know Ofc John O'Keefe or Liberty German or Abigail Williams and I'm spitting mad at the crappy investigations of their deaths. At the sloppy handling of evidence, at the incompetence of investigators, at the outrageous behavior of DAs/ADAs, and at the games being played by the judges. At least we could see and hear what happened at the Karen Read trial, Richard Allen's has been locked up tighter than an 18th century chastity belt. 

I now take comfort in the fact that Karen's jury was hung considering how Rick's turned out. 

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.