memento mori*

I dive into this post, questioning the mood and tone I’m setting.

Let me share something:

never mind

I would post a screenshot of a FB group one of my sweet sisters started when my dad had his first fall, but the thought of trolls trying to find that page and say horrible things, even though it’s a private group, is too much. He passed [redacted] just a few days after my [redacted].

Most of us who have spent any recent time on social media (Meta) know that Mark Zuckerberg has genuinely, deeply, lost his path as a human. I have many notions about why this is and how these billionaires got to this place of unmitigated greed and harm. It’s one thing to be greedy; that’s an old sin, but altogether, an atmospheric disaster of the harm they intend to cause the rest of us scaly humans. I mean, even the student who told me in early November that his mom said Project2025 wasn’t “his” (this pronoun is doing a lot of work): I must admit I said that wasn’t true, I didn’t stay “neutral” in that moment, and tried to recover as quickly as I could and say look it up yourself, but alas, had to have a meeting about it anyway. I would love to know how many teachers have had to have meetings with admin because they believed neutrality is the tool of the oppressor (Wiesel).

[Boy] students who have defended the likes of PewDeeeeeederp, Tate, Peterson, et al., and even one Ukrainian child who defended billionaires. These kids do not have a clue what is happening, but the tragedy is that many of their parents don’t either. (Which begs the question: do any of us?) They don’t know that 1:1000 is one million to one billion. They don’t know how clicks and likes feed the money jar, and it’s all consuming. The struggle to get them to feed into their OWN lives is my all-consuming challenge now.

Teachers (who should know better) on large FB groups fight back with me when I tell them factual information. So, it’s time to leave them. I’m not fighting like this anymore. It doesn’t mean I’m not fighting, but the ground rules and norms are shredded. I am well equipped to take my ball and go home.

And also, on FB, I have met and maintained friendships with some of the most remarkable humans on this planet. I still belong to Tehran American School — think about that miracle for a minute. A place I lived for a short time has a group of connected individuals who also share a time and space with me and my memories. I’ve learned so many things, and connected with friends.

But can anything good grow from salted earth? Zuckerberg started this to rate women on his campus, rooted in misogyny and sexism. Yes, MySpace was there before, and we can all bounce around platforms as they become inhospitable; I’m just trying to return to something that may not exist anymore. A stamp. An address. A “Wish You Were Here” postcard.

I know many widowed women, including my mom and mother-in-law. One friend recently shared a bittersweet and heartbreaking memory of her spouse. Now, I don’t know if I will be a widow or my spouse will be a widower, and I don’t know if I’ll be a grandparent someday or what is going to happen next– no one really does. But I’ll be damned if I don’t figure out a way to go down another path and not archive my own life. So many of us are scrambling now.

A former student who is now a young adult believes that RFK is awesome. And in a few conversations, he mentioned how biased I am. I needed to block him for my mental health because having bad-faith arguments with former students during my current situation isn’t healthy for me. I wish he and other people would understand this. Calling someone ‘biased’ isn’t the flex folks think it is.

View on Threads

The techdudebrobillionaire dudes are on the launchpad to destroy our federal government, our social safety nets (which were threadbare to begin with), and physically, materially, emotionally, and spiritually harm us. This is what they consider fun.

But — all I ask is that you keep a hold of my hand, be the home we need for one another, and keep creating. That’s what I consider fun. And try as little as possible to play their game.

*Remember we must die