Thread by @sacreddomme

Yesterday I took my daughter to Good Will to find costume attire for a play she's performing in. While looking through the clothes, I heard a child calling for her mom. I turned and saw a little girl - about 2 years old. She was calling out, "Mama?" and looking down each aisle /1

Of the clothing racks. It's not uncommon to see a child who temporarily loses track of their mother. Moms like me have seen this happen dozens of times in stores. As the child fruitlessly walked past each aisle, her calls turned panicky. This is also very common - the child's /2

Feeling of panic when they cannot find mom. She looked right into my face and I smiled as reassuringly as possible, but she turned, her search becoming desperate. I followed her to be sure she was okay and to try to help her find her mother. She was so tiny, maybe 2.5 feet - /3

She was crying heavily at this point and was not responding to my words. As we rounded a corner to the main through-way, I caught the eyes of another woman. We both searched each other's faces - hoping the other was the child's mother. No. Helpless glances exchanged between us /4

The young girl became hysterical. She was sobbing loudly and screaming for her mother. "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" Another woman rounded the corner and we looked to her. The three adult women - myself and these two strangers - locked eyes and something agonizing passed between us /5

That is difficult to explain. All of our eyes filled with tears. All of us began to feel the panic of that child - the realization of the heavy symbolism of what we were experiencing with this small girl separated from her mother. The shared experience was palpable. /6

The frantic screams and aimless running in fruitless circles of this toddler who couldn't find a familiar face.... My hands were shaking. It was all I could do to stop up my own tears. I didn't want to scare the little girl further. Surely her mother was near. /7

Surely this panic THIS child felt would be short-lived.

Surely it would end soon.

Surely she would be comforted and her missing mom would be so relieved.

Surely this was about to end. /8

We did find the child's mother. She swept her child into her arms and spoke soothingly to her, cradled her. /9

After they were reunited, I met eyes with the other two women - the two who had silently observed and experienced this symbolic event with me. One turned away and pretended to study the spines of old hardback books. The other, old mis-matched shoes. Me, I went to the far /10

Corner of the store nears men's suits and wept. We could still hear the cries of that baby girl in the checkout line. She continued to cry despite her mother holding and soothing her. Mom had been in the changing room and the child got away from her grandmother - exploring, as/11

All kids are wont to do.

It couldn't have been more than 60 seconds of separation.
60 seconds.
60 seconds.
60 seconds.

I am not a religious woman, but this shared experience was deafening and seemed more aptly placed than the most well-written of fiction.
We didn't cry/12

For that little girl. She experienced something American children experience as part of their growing up experience. She is okay. Her feelings of confusion, loss, then despair and trauma - they were short-lived. Seconds. Many parents use these types of experiences as teaching /13

Moments. "See, this is why you stay close to Mommy!" I said it myself when my daughter was young.
The thing is -
Her fear
Her panic
Her pain
Her loss
Her tears
Her desperate screams
Were real.
Her feelings are real.
A 2-year-old separated from her mother for 60 seconds /14

Brought three adult women to tears
Because she symbolizes the children
Torn from their parents
Deliberately
Children whose 60 seconds
May extend infinitely.

Bipartisan hate, division and what-about-isms must end.
Taking Elian Gonzalez at gun point /15

Was sickening and wrong - and it was 18 years ago during Bill Clinton's presidency. Democracy is not some sport in which you choose your team and spit vitriol at the other team. This is not a competition. Immigration policy has been in desperate need of humanitarian reform for/16

Decades. This means that MANY presidents of varied political backgrounds (and their respective Congresses) have dropped the ball on caring for human beings properly. PoC, Native Americans, prisoners, women and immigrants have been treated HORRIBLY in the U.S. Trump didn't /17

Start this. Our society is threaded with the disease of bias and hatred and competition. When I was a child, I had a teacher who told me that one of the best qualities of the United States government is the necessity for compromise. Regardless of their individual beliefs, /18

It is the duty of all Congressional members to represent EVERYONE in their district fairly, legally, honestly and without bias. These should be the most giving of humanitarians, the public servants of our country. When you learn that a politician is becoming WEALTHY from their/19

Position, this should be your first indication that they must be replaced because their values are in the wrong place. Greed cannot possibly be a trait of a public servant - it is oxymoronic and creates a paradox. Finger pointing and refusing to speak positively about a human /20

Being with different values than your own - this is a disqualifier. My fellow Americans, our country is not a sport you can win. We all want the same things. We want life, we want liberty, we want happiness. If you find yourself deliberately saying things to belittle someone /21

Else - regardless of reason - you're in the wrong. The function of our government is to represent the MILLIONS of varied opinions that exist in this country - not one. The President's duty is to ensure this happens, and that it is not threatened by foreign adversaries. Hold /22

Elected officials responsible. They work for you, as do the police. This is not a kingdom. This is a democracy.

I am a mother. I am a teacher. I am an American.
It will NEVER be okay with me for ANY reason EVER to deliberately cause a child the type of anguish I witnessed /23

In that little girl who was separated from her mother.
It is abuse.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to overreact to child abuse.

I don't care who you think started this.
I don't care about blame.
IT'S WRONG NOW AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW!
Knowing that and doing nothing while blaming /24

a former president who cannot do shit about it now is deliberately side-stepping your responsibility.
Vote.
They cannot represent you if they don't know you are there.
Vote.
Help me repair this mess.
Please.
/end