I just finished reading this article from Texas Monthly about the separation of children from their asylum-seeking parents at our border. I am appalled and enraged and feeling helpless in the face of such cruelty. I’d seen posts before with pictures that were then challenged as fake, with articles from websites that seemed somewhat trustworthy but I am unsure of anything anymore. Reading this article, I was hit with the gravity of the situation.

I have been busy with the first week of summer, Girl Scout camp running, events both days this weekend, so there hasn’t been a lot of time to think about the news aside from passing headlines. To be honest, I’ve been struggling with depression more lately, so I’m avoiding the news more and more. I’d seen articles and tweets about the policy, and I’ve been angry about the obvious lies coming from Trump and his lackeys, but I hadn’t allowed myself to get truly informed because it seemed so dark and terrible.

If there’s one thing in the news I skip over regularly, it’s stories about children being hurt or killed. I can’t handle those stories since I had kids. I get too shaken and I can’t be effective in even my daily life because I feel hopeless. So I’d been avoiding the stories.

Not anymore. On a day when we are celebrating family and fatherhood, I finally decided to read a longer-form article and start to engage with the story. I don’t want to be the person who buried my head in the sand while atrocities are committed. Still, aside from communicating with my congresspeople and making sure I turn out as many people as possible for the elections, I don’t know what else I can do. I’m informed, disgusted, and I feel helpless. It feels like being an informed citizen just makes things feel worse, but doesn’t accomplish much aside from that.

So while I’m wishing my amazing husband, my dad, and all the other dads in my life a happy day, I’m holding in my heart all those dads who don’t know where their children are or if they will ever see them again.

This policy is evil. If you find yourself trying to rationalize it, our differences are not political: they are moral. We are committing atrocities and abusing children. God help us all.