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MARRY THEE A BOSS

I Call My Wife “The General”

She walks in beautiful tactical boots, like the night

Daniel Williams
Wholistique
Published in
8 min readNov 16, 2024

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by author

I’m sorry to say this, and it’s going to wrinkle some bottoms out there, but people need to stop saying “I’m proud of you.”

Unless they can say it well.

I don’t mean they have to mean it. That goes without saying. I mean, be careful who you say it to.

For example, when someone much younger than us says “I’m proud of you,” doesn’t it feel just a little insulting, like they’re violently seizing for themselves a parental position and gazing down from that high height, all the way down to us, to say, “Way to go, champ!”?

Listen, youth, you don’t “Way to go, champ” us.

We “Way to go, champ” YOU!

Yes, parents are the number one ones who have the right to say, “I’m proud of you.”

Unless they’ve lost the right or never had it. There are so many parents like this, the lost ones and the have nots:

  • They love you, in a way.
  • “In my own way,” they say.
  • Maybe they just love the idea of you?
  • Maybe they just love that you are the genetic information of theirs that will go…

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Wholistique
Wholistique

Published in Wholistique

Personal stories on self-discovery, relationships, and a holistic path to happiness. Wholistique is about growth, not fixing — because you’re not broken. We aim to shift your perspective and empower you with tools to navigate life.

Daniel Williams
Daniel Williams

Written by Daniel Williams

A poverty-stricken soft Batman by night. Illustrator and writing teacher by day. Previously: McSweeney’s, Slackjaw.

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