I knew the March for Life was coming to DC, and I knew it was going to be historic. This march was a special one because it was the the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and they were expecting record breaking crowds. I heard numbers upwards of 500,000 people. The pro-life movement is definitely something I support, so I had been toying with the idea of going to the march all week. My only doubt was that it was supposed to be extremely cold, possibly even some snow.
But I woke up Friday morning and thought to myself, "This is what's great about living in DC. I can BE there. I'm doing it!" I guess you could say I'm a romantic, but I love being able to say, "I was there, I stood up and was counted".
In my head, this is how I pictured the day going:
I would march up to the Supreme Court with these fine people, and demand that they overturn Roe v. Wade immediately! Then when my grandkids ask me about the day I changed the world, I would recall the day when I was part of the biggest pro-life rally in Washington, the one that changed the hearts of millions and abortions were stopped forever.
However, this is how my day actually went:
Except Logan was crying the whole time, it was snowing, and we were surrounded on all sides by crazy protestors, that is, until we got lost in the bad side of town.
Let me back up.
I decided since we were going to be in the city, we should meet up with Daniel for lunch! I thought to myself, the rally starts at noon, the march is at 1:30, a couple blocks later and we should be meeting for sushi by 2. Even typing that now, I laugh at how naive I sound! I guess there's just something about half a million people that doesn't compute with me!
Anyway, we made it to the mall around 12:45. Logan magically fell asleep, and the mall didn't seem that crowded to me. This was all part of an awful, awful plan to lure me into a false sense of security. By the time we began "marching" (if you could even call it that) I was thinking, "what a piece of cake!" Then I quickly realized that the reason the mall was so empty was because the street we were marching down was completely filled sidewalk to sidewalk with people, several blocks back. Trying to merge into that craziness was like merging onto the biggest highway in LA during rush hour. It took us an hour to reach the street, when we were suddenly surrounded by people on all sides, and moving very slowly forward with no chance of stopping without being run over.
I began to panic. We were stuck. There was nowhere to go, no way out. All I could see were people and signs on all sides. Talking with a lady who had been to the March before, she told me it takes easily 5 hours to make it all the way to the Supreme Court. On top of that, the people chanting things like "2-4-6-8! We love babies! They are great!" and "Obama, your mama, she chose life! And so did your wife!" woke up Logan. And he was screaming. And then it began to snow. My motherly instincts kicked in and I knew we had to get out. Get out at all costs. I thought, "I'm at a pro-life rally, people are chanting We Love Babies!, I'm with a baby, these people will be nice to me, and let me out, right??" Thankfully, I was right. Once I decided to leave, people began blocking off an exit route, stopping traffic, and letting me pass. The march basically came to a halt while I escaped.
But then I was faced with the challenge of making it to my lunch date with Daniel. The route of the march made it so that it was impossible to take the most direct path to get to Heritage, where my husband works. I found myself wandering around DC, in the snow, with a screaming, cold baby, when I took a wrong turn and realized I had wandered into the bad part of town. There were people begging on the street, sleeping on benches, standing in lines for food, etc..... again, my momma bear instincts kicked in and I high tailed it out of there!
This story is dragging on, but just let me say, by the time I finally reached Daniel, Logan and I were both crying and frozen.
What happened to my perfect vision from that morning? When did my dream turn into my nightmare? Let's just say that when they say "record-breaking crowds" and "historic turnout", they mean it! And all of those people will be marching down a very narrow street, very slowly, and chanting crazy, rhyming things. And when they say "freezing temperatures" and "snow likely", they mean it! And you and your little one will be subject to the elements, and no amount of layers will save you. I guess sometimes when you get out there and do what you want to do, it doesn't turn out like you hope. But you know what, I was there! I stood up and was counted. And who knows, maybe this rally will be the push the Supreme Court needs to overturn Roe v. Wade. And maybe I will be able to tell my grandkids about the day I changed the world. You never know!
