Yearly Archives: 2014

A 16 year old reminds us, “The fact that 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted while in college should frighten all of us.”

Because I wasn’t able to really love myself, I could not accept the love from another.

I’m well acquainted with loss. I know there are no words to console a mother who outlived her son who was one of the good guys—a journalist seeking the truth in dangerous circumstances who was unlucky enough to be unarmed and attacked, but I also know that perhaps in these dark times that it is comforting to know that one is not alone in their grief.

I have to hear more narratives. I can’t just keep listening to mine. I don’t get a world where we can’t breathe. I don’t get a world where babies and mourning mothers and lost daughters and sons and uncles and fathers don’t matter. I need to hear narratives of change, of justice, of human rights – not on some far-flung continent, but right here at home.

It was textbook. I was scared, and angry, and confused, and all I wanted was for him to hug me. Instead, I accepted his violence.

Welcome to The Converse-Station: A dialogue between writers. With the site getting so much traffic (my Facebook page is reaching over 18 million people)...

Why am I an alcoholic? What in my life made me take this road? When exactly did this road become mine? Why can I have this wonderful life and still be plagued by this LIQUID imitation of life? But most importantly, when will I fix myself? When will I stop? Will I ever stop? Will I live to see 50? Will my children ever have to learn that their mom died because of alcohol use and she could have stopped it? How can I ever overcome this?

No woman should be treated like a piece of meat ripe for the plucking by a man to fulfill his sexual desires. Darling boy, would you want someone to treat your mother like that? How about your sister or aunt? I hope your answer will be NO, so that when you see other men doing this, you'll be able to confront them, telling them that it is never okay for them to do that to someone else's mother, wife, sister, aunt, or daughter.

Regardless of whether or not we understand why you did what you did, we are healing. As part of our healing, the kids and I talk about you every day. You probably know that.

Find moments of forgiveness. Driving home one day, feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for no reason. Clouds are parting after a summer rainstorm. There’s a double rainbow, brighter than anything you’ve ever seen.