New and Improved Vegan Conversation

My mother, a cat lover, was pretty much vegan for about 20 years. She had read Diet for A New America when it first came out years ago. That and her two children being vegan, was what set her on her vegan path. The kitchen became a vegan kitchen, she stopped buying leather, etc. In the last five years, she has let it all go. She also has been diagnosed with a disease similar to Alzheimer and Parkinson s. She has been steadily regressing in all ways; to the point of she hardly ever speaks. She has withdrawn. She doesn t want to die. But she doesn t want to live. She cares about basically nothing. Her cats are her greatest treasure at this point endash her source of love and affection. She has always loved cats.

Last week, after a multitude of attempts to get her back on the vegan bandwagon to no avail, she seemed to really grasp this conversation we were having. I will call it New and Improved Vegan Conversation - Part 1. In this talk, I showed her that there was no relevant difference between her cat and a cow or a pig or a duck or a turkey, when it comes to the capacity to suffer, or when it comes to the basic right not to be exploited. And I shared with her all our similarities with the animals that society kills. She was able to see it a bit clearer that way; using her cats as a reference. My brother, who cares for my parents and keeps the kitchen vegan, had been working with her on this issue too. He said Ma - if you want meat, we will cook Tiger (her cat). That might have helped too. Also, I told her that one of the things I had always admired in her was the joy she got from animals.

This morning, I had Part 2 of the New and Improved Vegan Conversation with her. She is Jewish and raised me with knowing about the Holocaust endash lest we never forget. I told her that if I was living during Nazi Germany and knew what was going on to the Jews in the concentration camps, I would not be one to be silent. Even if everyone around me pretended that it was not happening, I would be one to speak up. Using that analogy helped the point to penetrate. There is an art-form to finding just what will encourage each person to awaken. This morning she says to me I am being more consciousö85I couldn t order duck because I remember the ducks we fed. I am trying to be more vegan again. For most people, you wouldn t get all that excited about such baby steps. But my mother has a disease that is causing her to regress. She is fighting that disease in her desire to be more conscious. She even sounded better; it was quite amazing. It was the most meaningful birthday gift she could possibly give me.