Being Brave

Today a friend told me of her bravery. 

Of course, she didn't use the term "bravery"; she is a good, kind, smart and humble friend.

She told me about standing up and speaking out on an issue we both believe in resolutely.
She told me of the counter arguments she suffered.
She labeled herself "that mom."
I am so proud of her, and seriously disappointed in myself.

I used to be "that mom." 
Then I was "that woman," and recently "that liberal," "that feminist" and "that snowflake."

But too many wallopings by those who view life differently than I do (read: bullies with extremely poor grammar skills and limited vocabularies who type whatever first comes to their minds and hit "send" without thought to perception or inference - i.e., they hurt my feelings) made me jump down off my soapbox, retreat, and limit my social media interactions to pretty pictures of my knitting, grandchildren, books and baked goods on Instagram.  With a few sly slams in the comments sections of friends' Facebook posts just to keep my toes in the water.