Aidan is gone for ten days. Markus has been gone for five and will return late tomorrow. I find myself with an entire day to myself and knowing exactly what to do. I slept until nearly 10:00 this morning. Once normal, or even early, this is unheard of these days when 8:00 seems like a… Continue reading Gift of Time
Two days after I wrote about Guidepost 10, Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting go of Cool and in Control, I auditioned for a local production of the Andrew Lippa musical BIG FISH. Last spring, I auditioned for the first time in ten years. I always HATED auditioning. My anxiety got the best of me.… Continue reading Guidepost 10 in Practice, I Mean, Rehearsal
That’s how it started. Taco Bell at the PX in Wurzburg, Germany. Later that day, I took a dose of Dulcolax. After all, I had a whole box left. A couple of times a week turned to every other day which progressed from everyday to multiple times a day
In telling part of my story in a very public way for the first time I was able to chip away at some of the paralyzing fear he left me with.
I know names of three female friends who have been sexually assaulted or raped. Three. It is true that I have always had more male friends than females, but 1 in 5 women have been the victim of a rape. The latest CDC report found that over 40% of all women have experienced other forms… Continue reading Where is OUR Conversation?
Earlier this week a California judge ordered that actress Kelly Rutherford’s two young children be returned to the United States after an appallingly bad decision from another judge that the children be ripped from their mother and only known caregiver to go live with their German father in France because his visa had expired. If… Continue reading To Have Faith and Courage While Being Afraid
“A woman in a violent relationship is often on high alert: She may be frightened about being killed or worried about her kids; if she tries to get away, she may be stalked. All that stress is really toxic. There’s no organ that’s immune. Your whole body is at risk.” TRIGGER WARNING for sexual assault… Continue reading The Fear In My Bones
“In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month I light this candle of gratitude for my mother, Lynn, who had the courage to leave an abusive husband with three young daughters in tow. I am certain she saved our lives, and she taught us that love shouldn’t hurt.” Every Sunday at worship at the Unitarian Universalist… Continue reading Thanks, Mom
So the National Day of Unity has come and gone and the event that I had planned for Montclair, NJ was not a blazing success. Only a few people showed up and because of this they just wanted to go home. I was very disappointed. I had set high expectations. I mistakenly thought that just… Continue reading Day of Unity in Montclair. Kind of.
"The important thing about being a person with a story to tell is that you break the silence and try to raise awareness that this happens to women of all different ages, all different ethnicities, income levels, education levels — it happens in every religion, in every community." -Leslie Morgan Steiner, Domestic violence survivor and… Continue reading A Case of Nerves
