Will you quote me when I'm gone?

I’ll start with the elephant in the room: I don’t expect anyone to quote me when I’m gone. And if they did, it wouldn’t boost my ego since I wouldn’t be around to hear it. So if you’re going to do it, do it while I’m alive.

What got me thinking about this was the death of Charlie Kirk (yeah, I guess we are still talking about that). After his passing, I saw him quoted—and misquoted—everywhere. I wasn’t exactly his target audience, so I’d only heard him in passing. Suddenly, I was seeing both “Saint Charlie” tributes and lists of alleged phobias: transphobe, homophobe, bigot, racist. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Some of the clips and quotes attributed to him looked damning—until I watched the full context and found the meaning transformed. Other times, the context made it worse. I could chalk some of his statements up to theological differences (he was a devout Christian who limited his kids’ music to worship and classical, while I’m a non-religious, anything-goes kind of gal). But…