Toni Easter, 58, has faced the hopelessness familiar to any liberal voter living in a state dominated by conservative lawmakers.

Instead of despairing, she is spearheading a cause that is energizing thousands of Missourians -- across party lines -- who are determined to stop lawmakers from overturning the will of their voters.

Easter, a retired fashion industry executive in University City, Missouri, held a yard party in 2018 to support the Clean Missouri ballot initiative: a sweeping proposal to reduce corruption, increase transparency and reform how legislative districts are drawn in the state. She was so proud when it passed with 62% of voters supporting it.

“I was so proud when we won. I felt like I had effected change in my state,” she said.

But before any of the reforms could go into effect, the Republicans in the state legislature pushed for constitutional changes to scrap or weaken the redistricting provisions in Clean Missouri. Through ballot language that downplayed or buried the key changes, they got it overturned.

“I felt so betrayed by my elected officials,” Easter said. “The will of the people wasn’t enough.”

Easter got involved again when Republicans enacted a near-total abortion ban in the state after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Last year, she helped to collect 878 signatures to put the question about reproductive rights directly in front of the voters as Amendment 3, which would enshrine reproductive rights until the point of viability in the state constitution.

Again, Missouri voters supported this change, with 52% voting to restore abortion rights in the state.

How do you think Republicans, who control the state government with a supermajority, responded to the will of the people?

Yet again, Republican lawmakers approved a referendum that, if passed by voters in 2026 (or via special election earlier), would repeal Amendment 3 and ban most abortions.

The voters also passed Proposition A, a ballot initiative that increased the minimum wage and mandated paid sick leave. That measure passed with about 58% approval.

The Missouri legislature did not like that outcome, so it enacted House Bill 567, signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe on July 10, which repealed the paid sick leave provision and removed the automatic inflation-based increases to the minimum wage.

Clearly, there’s some tension between the will of voters and state lawmakers’ personal beliefs. They will use whatever means possible to limit or overturn the will of the voters, whether it’s through a new referendum, court rulings or reinforcement of existing restrictions.

“I knew even when we won at the ballot that it wasn’t over,” Easter said about the reproductive rights vote.

She started researching how citizens could protect the ballot initiative and its results. In December, she joined a Zoom call with activists from around the state. She told Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity, that if his group would take on a citizens’ initiative to protect the process and outcomes in Missouri, she was all in.

Together, they founded the Respect MO Voters Coalition: a statewide, cross-partisan, volunteer-driven effort to protect Missouri’s citizen initiative process. They are trying to ensure that voter-approved measures are respected. They launched a massive effort to collect signatures in order to present the issue directly to voters.

The Republican-controlled legislature, meanwhile, is pushing in the opposite direction with proposals to make the initiative process more difficult -- raising standards for signatures, requiring more votes and giving more power to the legislature. They want to increase the percentage required to pass an initiative above a simple majority -- but only for citizen-initiated measures, not for the legislature’s own.

“It’s the most stunning example of hypocrisy and malicious intent,” said Ray Hartmann, a journalist who unsuccessfully ran against Rep. Ann Wagner, as he spoke to hundreds of volunteers at the kickoff event.

Fred Steinbach, a Republican and the former mayor of Chesterfield, also spoke at the event.

“I am a proud Republican, but I am concerned about the attack on democracy,” he said.

The majority of people on both sides of the aisle do not want politicians overturning our votes, Easter said. She is committed to leading the effort to collect 300,000 signatures in Missouri by the end of this year to get the initiative on the ballot next year.

It won’t be easy, she said. But she’s not going to sit around feeling victimized or doomscrolling. She still believes in the power of the people.

“This is us reclaiming that,” she said.

I was recently trapped in a perplexing and potentially compromising situation that made me reconsider the impact of middle-aged brain fog.

It began innocently enough with a visit to the pool. When our children were younger, I spent many summer days poolside, watching them splash and go down the twisty slides. Now, nearly the entire summer had passed without a single dip in the water under a warm sun.

It was a glorious late-summer afternoon. I walked in 80-degree water while waning sunshine glistened on the surface. Later, as I walked out of the pool in my burkini (minus the head covering), I congratulated myself on making such a good decision.

Ah, the pride before a fall.

I returned to the locker room to change, and made a last-minute decision to shower there, rather than at home. This is where the outing took a turn.

As I stepped out of the shower, I realized I had forgotten to grab a towel from the rack. Given that this is a family locker room with individual stalls, I could not step out to grab one. I stood there, dripping wet, considering my options.

I had brought in my bag of clothes and discovered a sports bra I didn’t need to wear. I tried to use this small piece of fabric to brush the water off my body. Polyester and spandex are not very absorbent. In my purse, I found a sturdy napkin from a gas station. It disintegrated in my hand as I wiped my face and arms. I also tried shaking my hair as I’ve seen Frankie, my pup, do after he gets a bath.

I just needed to get dry enough so I could put my clothes back on and run out of this place.

I got close enough. When I emerged from the stall, I glared at the rack of towels piled high less than three feet away. The entire locker room was empty, of course.

As I walked out, I couldn’t help but remember the amount of paraphernalia I used to lug when taking two small children to the pool -- goggles, spare clothes, snacks, water bottles, sunscreen, sunhats, etc. I managed to pack a tote the size of carry-on luggage for all those trips, and now I couldn’t remember to take a towel to the shower?

This incident comes on the heels of finding it harder to recall names and why I’ve walked from one room to the next. Sometimes, I’ll pause mid-conversation and say, "Just give me a minute; it will come right back to me."

What is happening to my brain?

As the owner of a sputtering uterus that refuses to quit, I know that brain fog is a common symptom of perimenopause. But the situation at the pool made me turn to the experts.

I follow the work of Selene Yeager, co-author of “Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond,” and host of the podcast “Hit Play, Not Pause.” She also writes a “Feisty Menopause” newsletter.

Many women in perimenopause report memory lapses, poor concentration and mental fatigue, Yeager told me. These changes can be related to fluctuating estrogen levels, sleep disruptions or mood changes. Any or all of these things can affect brain chemistry.

“Everyone thinks they are experiencing early onset dementia,” she said. “It’s helpful to know you aren’t alone in that.”

Yeager said that some women have found relief by using creatine supplements. Some preliminary studies show benefits for short-term memory and reduced mental fatigue.

However, Dr. Becky Lynn believes the jury is still out on using creatine in this way. Lynn is a gynecologist certified as a menopause practitioner by the North American Menopause Society, and also founded Evora Women’s Health, a concierge practice in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

“It’s probably not harmful,” Lynn said of creatine. “There’s just not enough scientific evidence that every woman should use it for cognitive function.”

She also reassured me that she frequently hears from patients wondering how to deal with memory changes during this time.

“It’s common, and you’re not losing your mind,” she said. Lynn emphasizes getting treatment for sleep disruptions and incorporating regular exercise, especially cardio, into your routine.

The weirdest thing about the menopausal transition is how much guesswork is involved in trying to get relief from the vast array of symptoms that can appear.

I’ve found that being able to laugh about some of these unexpected changes also helps.

I’m going to try creatine and try not to go off the deep end.

Marsha Levison, now 70, once experienced a dental visit so terrible that it kept her from seeing a dentist for the next 15 years.

On top of the pain of having a tooth extracted, she felt the dentist ignored what she was trying to tell him about her teeth. That may have hurt as much as the procedure.

“I just dealt with it,” she said. “I have a tolerance for pain.”

As the years went by, the ache in her teeth kept getting worse, until she finally couldn’t bear it anymore. She was relieved to discover the dental students and instructors at The Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health (MOTSOH) at A.T. Still University in St. Louis, an institution treating underserved communities.

“In all the years I’ve been going to the dentist, this is the only place I’ve felt comfortable,” Levison said. She added that she feels respected by the providers there: “They are gentle, thorough and explain things to you.”

Getting dental care again could add years to her life.

Dental care in America faces persistent and severe disparities. The biggest barrier is cost, even among those with insurance. But about 74 million Americans lack any dental insurance. That is roughly three times the number without medical insurance.

As with other forms of health care, rural areas and low-income communities are the hardest hit and face the greatest shortages of dental providers. Medicaid’s lower reimbursement rates lead to far fewer dentists willing to treat Medicaid patients.

Missouri residents are worse off than the rest of the country. Nearly 1.7 million Missourians live in federally designated dental health professional shortage areas -- one of the highest unmet needs nationwide. Even beyond the challenges of finding a dentist, a patient has to be able to take time off of work and arrange transportation and childcare.

Fear of the dentist and/or the memory of previous bad experiences also keep some from seeking care until an ache turns into an emergency. In 2022, there were more than 1.6 million dental-related emergency department visits, costing the healthcare system $3.9 billion. And ERs are generally unequipped to properly deal with dental issues. Patients tend to leave with prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics, but an ER can’t fix a broken or diseased tooth.

Proper dental care means more than being able to eat comfortably, avoid pain and have a nice smile. Research shows that dental health affects overall health. Gum disease can be linked to systemic inflammation, worsening risks for other inflammatory conditions like heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Chronic oral infections can also affect respiratory health, pregnancy outcomes and cognitive decline.

While most of the patients at MOTSOH are on Medicaid, Medicare or live below the poverty line, anyone can walk in for care, according to Dr. Shaista Rashid, assistant dean of clinical affairs at the school. There’s a sliding scale based on income, and prices are lower than general dentists in the community, she said.

They also offer special programs for veterans, those with special needs and disabilities, children and those needing urgent care.

Older adults with poor oral health are at increased risk for aspiration pneumonia, poorly controlled diabetes, endocarditis and inadequate nutrition.

Winiefred Blackman, 68, had had a series of appointments over the past several months to get his remaining teeth extracted in order to be fitted for dentures. Gum disease had left several holes in his mouth. For years, he’s gotten by on soft foods, soups and noodles. He can’t wait until he has a full set of teeth again.

“I’ll be able to eat again,” he said.