An engagement dinner for my daughter is winding down. Family members embrace each other before heading forth exuberantly into the night air, lifted by the tangible evidence of true love. An elderly aunt turns to me, the mother of the future bride, hugs me tightly, and whispers in my ear, “I’m sure there’s another ring in your future, and that your own day will come again.” “God,” I blurt out with a chuckle, “I hope not!”  → Read More

I was very young, already mother to a toddler and felt as though I was “used goods.” I thought no man would want me, and so when someone asked me to marry him, decided that I had better say yes before he changed his mind. During the marriage ceremony, my soul gave one last ditch effort, hurling the equivalent of a mental “Hail Mary Pass” across my brain, shrieking, “What are you doing?!”  → Read More

For me, Independence Day is personal. It is about winning a war involving physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse. My “enemy” was more than the man I once loved.  → Read More