Political Quotes

“I am one of the few parents of young children in the Senate. But almost every one of us here is a parent, so you know that one of the most spectacular things your kid can do is to write you a letter. Sometimes--frankly, most of the time--when I have gotten those letters, it is because my kid wants to protest something that I have done. I have gotten a few of those where my kids are so upset about a rule or a decision that we have made as parents, they sit down and they catalog their grievances on paper. Maybe if you are lucky, you get a nice letter. My in-laws have one still plastered up on their wall from their youngest daughter who wrote them a nice list when she was young about the things she appreciated. But those ``Dear Mommy'' or ``Dear Daddy'' letters, that is one of the rare joys of parenthood. On March 6, 2018, Patricia Verbeeck awoke to find one of those letters for her left by her child Eric. It was laying on the pillow of his bed. She picked it up, and she read it to herself. ``Dear Mommy,'' her child wrote. Maybe her eyes twinkled thinking of what sweet or funny thoughts might come next. But this is what the letter said: Dear Mommy, I am sorry to do this to you, but I have killed myself by jumping off the top floor, the 12th floor, of your building . . . at the nearest stair exit to the elevators on that floor. I felt I could no longer live my life as a lie, living as a boy, instead of the girl I knew I could become. I am sorry I lied to you.…”