Lonely Onlies

Can I scream now???

I hate to be insulted. I hate it when people threaten.

A donor just told me that she will not donate unless we put 50% of every donation toward birth control. She didn't merely say to put some donations toward it, but an exact amount.

Then she explained how people should only have one child, how she only had one child, and how she was able to feed and educate that one child because she was so responsible.

I held my tongue. I didn't tell her that I have five children thus I must be the extremely irresponsible devil incarnate.

I didn't tell her that I'm not Catholic when she kept saying, "I'm Catholic" as if I should agree with her because she's Catholic. Rather she probably thought I should disagree with her because I'm Catholic.

Why do people "assume"? I don't call strangers and speak about religion. I don't assign a religion to them and insult them because of their made-up religion.

Even if I wanted to change my organization's policy about birth control (we take a non-stance on this issue because it is so volatile and could affect donations adversely whichever stance we chose), I don't have the power.

I was nice and took her call after I was officially off work.

I did not appreciate the lecture but I was very nice and polite like all good little customer service representatives are trained to be.

I am still human, however. If you can read shorthand, you could read exactly how lovely I feel and how much I enjoyed speaking to this lovely, lovely person.

As per my thoughts on birth control, I am an only child. Another term for this is "lonely only".

My family had enough money to send me to college, but they chose not to. I worked and paid for my own education, all the way up to a Master's degree.

I don't begrudge paying for my own education. I probably value it much more than many people who got a free ride.

I do, however, miss having a sibling or two. I used to beg my mom for a brother or sister. I would have given away a free college education for one.

I'd still love to have a brother or sister. When my mother died, I felt so very alone. I so badly wanted a sibling to share this with, to walk into the future with.

I'm almost fifty so I will never have one.

I think a brother and/or sister is a very important person to have in one's life. Although my children occasionally fight, they love one another. They miss one another when they're separated. The older they get, the more they value one another.

Thus I do not see what is wrong with families who have two or three children - or more. I think families, especially big families, are wonderful.

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)