Tywin Lannister: Father Of The Year

Last night's season finale of "Game Of Thrones" included a scene between Tyrion Lannister and his father, Tywin, that I suspect affected people with disabilities differently than most viewers. Tyrion (a.k.a., "The Imp", "The Half-man") challenged Tywin to name one time he truly put the family's needs before his own. Tywin answered by saying that when Tyrion was born, he wanted to drown him at sea because of his deformity, but didn't, and instead raised him as his son, because he is a Lannister … in other words, for the good of his family.

Now there is a few lines of dialog packed with multiple, and multiply-layered meanings for people with disabilities. What first came to my mind is how parents get praised for raising children with disabilities, justifiably, but with the implication behind the praise that the selfish alternative … the thing they'd have preferred … would be to reject the offspring, or endure the more short-term grief of them dying on their own.

Tywin is more literal and unapologetic about it than most real-world parents. Yet, the thought was there for me ponder as soon as I saw the scene.