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The Quiet Heroes

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Clarissa

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We celebrated Klara’s 7th birthday today. The party went great, the kids clearly enjoyed, even the weather was superb.

Two of the kids at the party – a 6-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister – are being raised by very infirm, retirement-age grandparents. Amazing people. Sweet, a great sense of humor. But still, can you imagine? Being 70 and raising very small, very energetic kids?

I’m seeing this quite a lot. Grandparents stepping in, raising their children’s children. Where did the parents go?

It’s very sad.

4 responses to “The Quiet Heroes”

  1. el Avatar
    el

    Do those children and grandparents usually come from African-American community, or are all ethnic groups widely represented?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      These were white people. It’s the opioids. They have devastated mostly white working and middle-class families.

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      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        It used to be black families, back when the popular drug was crack– those were my mom’s students: parents in jail, being raised by their churchgoing, Godfearing grandmas. Some of them made it out of the dysfunction (not all, but some). It didn’t get really demoralizing until it started being meth instead. Those kids are often suffering not just from family dysfunction and lack of parents, but also permanent brain damage from exposure.

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      2. Avi Avatar
        Avi

        I wanted to write that when I first saw your post but then I thought it might have been considered insensitive so I am glad you’ve brought it up.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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