Precious Memories

Guest post
by Suzann Darnall

My husband and I have been blessed this past week to have two of our granddaughters spend the week with us. Their parents were volunteers at a church girls camp, where their older sisters were campers. So, as in past years when the littles have stayed home and the bigs have camped, MawMaw (AKA: me) has held a mini girls camp or mini camp (when my grandson has been with us).

While we seldom do anything huge, we do seem to have fun and make memories that the kids treasure. I try to make sure they go home with a few little mementos and that we do a variety of simple activities. They also get well fed and indulge in an abundance of treats. In addition, they get some down time to watch TV or movies, play on electronics, or just chill.

This week we have baked bread, received t-shirts saying “Girls First”, gone for manicures and pedicures, had lunch out with a friend, gotten friendship bracelets, had a family pool party with their aunt and her family, had a sleepover with their cousin, had a picnic at the drive-in movie while watching “Christopher Robin”, and done lots of other things. Today is a quiet day as we await the return of their family and they head for home. It has been good stuff and I will treasure the memories for a long time.

But, mingled amidst the wealth of these precious memories with my grandchildren, from this year and past events, has been the intrusion of a black cloud brought to my mind by social media and new sources. A very dark subject that I am loathe to mention, but feel must be addressed. In part I am writing about it ‘cause I was asked to address it by others. I also hold this to be an important fight for our society to hold the line against an evil attack against the family through the destruction of happy, healthy childhood for some of our littlest citizens. It is the apparent drive to “normalize” pedophilia.

There is nothing normal about pedophilia. It might be more common than we realize, but that does not in any way make it normal. Cancer is common, but is certainly not normal! And, to my mind, pedophilia is a societal cancer that will only spread more rapidly if we in any way accept it as the norm.

To equate pedophilia to being gay is a huge disservice to the LGBT community. The gay people I know do not approve of children being hunted by evil-minded predators. In fact, many gay people I know were once preyed upon by pedophiles and actively fight against it happening to others. Of course, I also know straight people who were victims of pedophiles, as well, and they, too, are abhorred by what is happening in our society at this time.

Our children are our most precious commodity. They are our future. They should be our prized treasures and protected at all costs. Perhaps many in our communities should be less concerned about guns, which are actually a relatively small threat, and more concerned about the slime of humanity which is oozing from the darkness into the light under a false mantle of tolerance for all lifestyle choices.

Sorry, the sexual abuse of infants, toddlers, children, and young teens by adults is not a lifestyle choice. It is a horrendous criminal act and should be punished as such. Covering it up with a diagnosis of mental illness does not help the victims in any way, and probably only puts more children at risk. And, when I say “victim”, I mean the child and ONLY the child. I do not now and never will consider the predator/pedophile to be a victim.

So, while I have rejoiced this week in the presence of my grandchildren, I have been reminded of past horrors which still haunt family and friends who were victims of pedophiles. And, I pray my grandchildren will be spared ever becoming victims of such predators. We should all pray for our children. And, we should all vote for those who will protect them at all costs!!! Elections matter and issues like these matter most of all.
Suzann blogs at Wooly Mammoth.org