I would love to be Ruth when I grow up.
Image found on The Austin Chronicle.
Ordinarily I reserve my Sunday posts for something happy, but I think you will understand why I’m choosing not to do that today.
It was just a few months ago that I posted a tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman I deeply admired, as did my mom. Women especially have much to thank her for, but so do men, as she fought for both men and women in front of and behind the bench.
The news that she had died Friday at the age of 87, the same day as another woman I admired from back home (Emma Feimster, you were and are loved more than you could know) hit me like a ton of bricks and broke my heart. To take two such wonderful, brilliant, kind women on the same day just seemed so wrong.
But then I read something I had half-remembered, from conversations with Jewish friends, among many tweets and posts Friday evening, an example of which was this tweet by Caroline Mandell:
The timing seems fitting for both women.
RBG had a long life full of joy, sadness, and fierce advocacy. She was witty, wise, and not afraid to tell you what she thought, much like her departed friend Justice Antonin Scalia, with whom she shared much, including a love for opera. She earned her rest. May her memory be a blessing, and may we continue the fight.
It’s up to us to keep fighting for our rights.
Editorial cartoon by Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Inquirer.
Serenity is a fuzzy belly 
“She earned her rest.” These four little words are quite the tribute. How many of us can have such a tribute made at our passing?
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I believe you’re right. I can only hope for that when I pass on. 💗
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I burst into tears when I heard she had died, struck simultanesously by the passing of a woman I greatly admired and the inevitable ugliness it presaged.
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I did too. It was hours before I really calmed down enough to consider the situation. We had the same ugliness four and a half years ago, but it seems even pettier and more spiteful now, and I didn’t that was possible. I’m just hoping for the best with every cell of my being, but prepared to be disappointed.
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What a nice tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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A very, very sad event, to be sure. I appreciated your tribute, and I appreciated the post: You can’t have TRUTH without RUTH. I’m not sure it makes sense but it evokes something profound.
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Ruth has left a large hole that the rest of us must fill. 💔
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