My Mom Let Me Go Vegetarian
She wasn’t sure if she had done the right thing, but her choice became one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received
“Mom, can I go vegetarian?”
My latest out-of-the-blue request was instigated by a squid dissection in our sixth-grade science class.
Appreciation for animals had been with me since I was a toddler. From the books our parents read us, to watching wildlife documentaries, to playing fetch-the-orange with Maxwell, our yellow Labrador.
It wasn’t until that lifeless squid stared up at me from atop the creaky school desk that I saw things in a new way. Science education mattered, but I sure wouldn’t want my life to be taken for it. What other unchosen sacrifices were animals making for me?
We learned a new vocabulary word in class — calamari, meaning squid meat. The connection between my food and the animals’ slaughter became too painfully apparent. My mom and dad had taught me to practice the Golden Rule, and I thought that this should apply to animals too.
She said yes!
I asked my mom if I could go vegetarian, and she said yes.
The last time I ate meat still glistens in my memory. It was my mom’s Brunswick Stew, a recipe…
