Happy Birthday Leanna Lynn Johnson ...
- Thread starter moparedtn
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Happy Birthday. RIP
chargervert
Well-Known Member
Happy Birthday! Still hard to believe that she's gone! RIP!
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Happy birthday!!!
Dearly missed by everyone
Dearly missed by everyone
Happy Birthday & R.I.P. Leanna. I feel fortunate that I had a private conversation with you very shortly before you left us. God Rest Your Soul!
Pecos Bill
Well-Known Member
Mallory (her daughter) wrote this on her fb page. Thought I should share it:
My Mom would have been 60 years old today. This is her first birthday celebrated posthumously and I've been trying to write some sort of fitting memorial all day. It's been tough. Death is difficult to process when it's expected and impossible to comprehend when it's sudden.
Her birthday was suspended in 2001, due to then current events, and I feel this first birthday without her has been stolen as well.
My Mom, Leanna Lynn Johnson loved old muscle cars, a passion that blossomed into her becoming the go-to expert at restoring rusty old car parts, complete with beautiful powder coating, that would make her customer's cars shine with pride. Once upon a time, she was a professional pool player and was even on the women's pro tour for a while. Her first job was as a radio DJ and she once dreamed of being a singer in a Rock N' Roll band.
She had a passion for cats and loved every single one dearly. She had just gotten her first dog when she passed away. She was beginning to realize that dogs can be just as cool as cats, but in a totally different way. Her lifelong belief that cats were better than dogs was starting to change...
Like everyone else, she was a human being, who lived an interesting life.
But the thing she would want people to know, first and foremost, about her, was that she was an American patriot. She loved her country deeply. She truly believed in the American Constitution, the Amendments, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers (I promise I will read them, Mom and Dad). She believed our country is a great one and one worth fighting for, so she spoke her mind freely to anyone who would listen.
I never speak about my political beliefs publicly. I see how others are treated online for expressing *any* viewpoint at all and the extent to which people who disagree will go to demonstrate their superior thinking, to the point that doxxing became a thing. Not just a thing that exists, but something people celebrate -- the utter destruction of a person's livelihood and life are somehow morally justified because they hold a different opinion.
This week, we as a society also learned it's now considered okay, by a subset of Americans, to outright m*rder someone for an opposing viewpoint. So many people, who have never heard Charlie Kirk debate anyone, are now saying his death was somehow justified because he believed in the Second Amendment. Because he spoke his mind.
My Mother would be appalled to see our freedom of speech trampled upon so recklessly, and whether she would have agreed with Charlie's viewpoints is irrelevant. If Leanna were alive today, she would be screaming from the rafters that he had every protection under the law to speak his mind.
If he doesn't have that right, then none of us do.
Really think about that.
Today, of all days, what my Mom would want most is for me to speak out -- for her -- in favor of the First Amendment, regardless of who is speaking.
It doesn't matter whether you agree with someone or not, they have a right to speak. They have a right to believe anything they choose, no matter how crazy it may seem to you.
They have every right -- under the Constitution of the United States of America -- to espouse any and every idea they hold.
And so do you.
I urge everyone reading this to please, watch an hour of one of Charlie's debates. You will likely disagree with something he says, maybe even everything he says. That's wonderful, because it will cause you to think more deeply about your position; it will cause you to develop your convictions more fully, more eloquently.
Hopefully you will also see that all Charlie was doing is actively encouraging discourse, a sharing of ideas, which is the true basis for a healthy, democratic society. Yes, he was absolutely trying to convince others to come to his way of thinking, but who isn't?
Isn't that exactly what you do? Try to convince those on "the other side" that your way of thinking is the correct way?
If we cannot express our ideas without fear of retribution, then how can we possibly facilitate the betterment of society that we all seek?
That's what every single one of us wants.
SOMETHING BETTER.
I know this is true because that's the human condition. We all want more; we all want improvement; we all want a better, more fulfilled and happy life. But what that actually looks like is different for everyone.
I've been thinking a lot about what the solution might be.
Right and Left will never come together, nor should they. The diversity of our planet is a huge part of what makes it beautiful and a diverse range of ideas is what sparks growth, innovation and advancement. We all have lived a variety of experiences that have led us to a certain belief system. No one will ever agree with everyone, it's completely impossible.
So knowing half of the population of any given society disagrees with you on your core principles of life, how can we successfully move forward?
How do we create a better future for the next generations?
I don't believe m*rdering the opposition is the way forward. I don't believe doxxing is the way forward.
I do believe every individual is entitled to choose their own opinions and values. I believe every individual is entitled to speak openly about those same opinions and values, if they choose to, without being m*rdered for it.
I know for a fact my Mom would agree and I hope I am somehow honoring her memory by speaking my mind on her behalf on her birthday.
If you respectfully disagree, as Charlie said, come to the front of the line.
If you disrespectfully disagree, I have nothing to offer you but love.
*Photo of my beautiful Mother on her high school graduation day.
My Mom would have been 60 years old today. This is her first birthday celebrated posthumously and I've been trying to write some sort of fitting memorial all day. It's been tough. Death is difficult to process when it's expected and impossible to comprehend when it's sudden.
Her birthday was suspended in 2001, due to then current events, and I feel this first birthday without her has been stolen as well.
My Mom, Leanna Lynn Johnson loved old muscle cars, a passion that blossomed into her becoming the go-to expert at restoring rusty old car parts, complete with beautiful powder coating, that would make her customer's cars shine with pride. Once upon a time, she was a professional pool player and was even on the women's pro tour for a while. Her first job was as a radio DJ and she once dreamed of being a singer in a Rock N' Roll band.
She had a passion for cats and loved every single one dearly. She had just gotten her first dog when she passed away. She was beginning to realize that dogs can be just as cool as cats, but in a totally different way. Her lifelong belief that cats were better than dogs was starting to change...
Like everyone else, she was a human being, who lived an interesting life.
But the thing she would want people to know, first and foremost, about her, was that she was an American patriot. She loved her country deeply. She truly believed in the American Constitution, the Amendments, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers (I promise I will read them, Mom and Dad). She believed our country is a great one and one worth fighting for, so she spoke her mind freely to anyone who would listen.
I never speak about my political beliefs publicly. I see how others are treated online for expressing *any* viewpoint at all and the extent to which people who disagree will go to demonstrate their superior thinking, to the point that doxxing became a thing. Not just a thing that exists, but something people celebrate -- the utter destruction of a person's livelihood and life are somehow morally justified because they hold a different opinion.
This week, we as a society also learned it's now considered okay, by a subset of Americans, to outright m*rder someone for an opposing viewpoint. So many people, who have never heard Charlie Kirk debate anyone, are now saying his death was somehow justified because he believed in the Second Amendment. Because he spoke his mind.
My Mother would be appalled to see our freedom of speech trampled upon so recklessly, and whether she would have agreed with Charlie's viewpoints is irrelevant. If Leanna were alive today, she would be screaming from the rafters that he had every protection under the law to speak his mind.
If he doesn't have that right, then none of us do.
Really think about that.
Today, of all days, what my Mom would want most is for me to speak out -- for her -- in favor of the First Amendment, regardless of who is speaking.
It doesn't matter whether you agree with someone or not, they have a right to speak. They have a right to believe anything they choose, no matter how crazy it may seem to you.
They have every right -- under the Constitution of the United States of America -- to espouse any and every idea they hold.
And so do you.
I urge everyone reading this to please, watch an hour of one of Charlie's debates. You will likely disagree with something he says, maybe even everything he says. That's wonderful, because it will cause you to think more deeply about your position; it will cause you to develop your convictions more fully, more eloquently.
Hopefully you will also see that all Charlie was doing is actively encouraging discourse, a sharing of ideas, which is the true basis for a healthy, democratic society. Yes, he was absolutely trying to convince others to come to his way of thinking, but who isn't?
Isn't that exactly what you do? Try to convince those on "the other side" that your way of thinking is the correct way?
If we cannot express our ideas without fear of retribution, then how can we possibly facilitate the betterment of society that we all seek?
That's what every single one of us wants.
SOMETHING BETTER.
I know this is true because that's the human condition. We all want more; we all want improvement; we all want a better, more fulfilled and happy life. But what that actually looks like is different for everyone.
I've been thinking a lot about what the solution might be.
Right and Left will never come together, nor should they. The diversity of our planet is a huge part of what makes it beautiful and a diverse range of ideas is what sparks growth, innovation and advancement. We all have lived a variety of experiences that have led us to a certain belief system. No one will ever agree with everyone, it's completely impossible.
So knowing half of the population of any given society disagrees with you on your core principles of life, how can we successfully move forward?
How do we create a better future for the next generations?
I don't believe m*rdering the opposition is the way forward. I don't believe doxxing is the way forward.
I do believe every individual is entitled to choose their own opinions and values. I believe every individual is entitled to speak openly about those same opinions and values, if they choose to, without being m*rdered for it.
I know for a fact my Mom would agree and I hope I am somehow honoring her memory by speaking my mind on her behalf on her birthday.
If you respectfully disagree, as Charlie said, come to the front of the line.
If you disrespectfully disagree, I have nothing to offer you but love.
*Photo of my beautiful Mother on her high school graduation day.
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