I Choose Love

This past week, while the headlines were full of coverage about Charles Kirk, I chose something different. I stepped away and spent time with my family out of town for a celebration.

Now, to understand why this matters to me, you have to know something about these people: I love them fiercely to the very core of my existence. These are the same people I grew up with, the ones I frolicked, danced, and laughed with as a child. Not once did we fight as kids—there was no division, no politics, just joy. Politics wasn’t even a word in our vocabulary back then.

And as adults? They are still the same kind, generous, wise, and deeply good people I’ve always known. The kind of people I would step in front of danger for without a second thought. The kind of people who embody integrity, honesty, and love.

That’s why this moment stuck with me: during our trip, a conversation about immunizations got heated. It wasn’t about being racist or prejudiced or cruel, because these people are not those people. Not at all. It was simply one of those topics that sparks strong feelings. Words were exchanged, and instantly my heart sank. I regretted it the second it happened as it slipped from my lips, because in that small space of tension, I saw how politics—or the politicization of issues—has the power to wedge itself between love. For that fleeting moment, it hurt both of us.

Thankfully, love won. We hugged it out. We laughed. We reminded ourselves of what we’ve always known, our bond is unconditional, our love bigger than any political divide. Still, the sting of that moment stayed with me. I don’t ever want to feel that way again.

Because here is the truth. I choose love over politics. Every time.
I refuse to let political disagreements rob me of the people who mean everything to me.

Politics should never demand that we choose between loyalty to our beliefs and loyalty to our loved ones. If it does—if it asks us to put ideology before love—what are we really choosing? Isn’t that choosing hate over compassion? Division over unity? Judgment over grace?

I know where I stand. I stand with love. With grace. With understanding. With my family, always.

And maybe that’s something the world needs more of right now, the courage to choose love over politics. To hold on to the people we treasure, even when we don’t see the world in the same way. Because at the end of the day, love is the only thing that lasts.

A Final Thought

I didn’t know Mr. Kirk. I barely paid attention to him prior to his death. But I can’t help noticing how, in the aftermath, so many people are lifting him up—and at the same time, so much hate talk is spilling out. Why do we do this to each other? Why do we let grief, politics, or ideology drive wedges deeper between us instead of pulling us together?

The Civil War was not very civil. And right now, it feels like we are tiptoeing toward wrecking ourselves all over again. It is time to check ourselves before we completely wreck ourselves. And that begins not with grand speeches or policy platforms, but with something much simpler: listening to one another. Plain and simple.

XOXO,

Whimsy Jenny