To read today

A little pain (it was not in the category of "immense") did not keep me from reading this:

https://longreads.com/2018/09/18/heartland-a-memoir-of-working-hard-and-being-broke-in-the-richest-country-on-earth/

"When she told me the story, it was about a day she barely survived because of my dad’s absence. I see it now as a day she barely survived because society valued productivity and autonomy more than it valued women and children."

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“'Please don’t go, please don’t go,' she said, screaming and crying. She often screamed but almost never cried. It was like something had broken in her when the stitches between her legs tore. 

But Dad packed up his tools and left again.

He was concerned about providing for his family, he told me when I was grown, sitting next to him in his work truck and telling him how Mom remembered that day."

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"Dad had a quiet inner life as a self-healer. Once in a while he shared it with me, and in that way he was the most maternal force in my life."

 ~ S. Smarsh

https://longreads.com/2018/09/18/heartland-a-memoir-of-working-hard-and-being-broke-in-the-richest-country-on-earth/