Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual assault and suicidal ideation *** I was born needing to be fixed. They didn’t have the fancy ultrasounds forty-some years ago, so I came out bloody and ready to breathe life into the world—except I could barely breathe. I was born disfigured; my lip was attached to the bottom of […]
The Red Couch: No Other Gods Discussion
by on October 2, 2019 Leave a Comment
I knew the Rosary and the Ten Commandments before I knew the Pledge of Allegiance. I knew the Stations of the Cross before I ever heard we had a constitution of the United States. When we were little the priest caught my brothers drinking the holy water and daring their buddies to do the same. […]
Stories that Change Generations
by on June 23, 2019 Leave a Comment
I have always known I was a storyteller. From a very early age, I created worlds in my mind. I had an imagination that ran wild. My third grade teacher Mrs. Knollinger, called me a liar. That is what old school Catholic teachers were told to teach: the law; not the truth. Thankfully my mother […]
The Places I Saw the Face of God
by on May 26, 2019 Leave a Comment
I grew up in a family where we were measured by performance. In elementary school, we were given quarters for our A’s. We were given dessert if we finished all of our food on our plate. We were given shelves for all our trophies. I did not have a shelf. Sports was something I did not […]
Dear Sweet Girl, For You, Justice Looks Like Healing
by on April 28, 2019 Leave a Comment
Dear Sweet Girl, Hear me. As I hold your freckled face between the palms of my hands, I believe you. You are wearing the navy blue shoes your dad bought for you last year. Before. Before everything changed. Before your wrists were pressed into the cold white sheets that December afternoon. Before you looked outside […]
