If A Man Wishes To Truly Not

The Real Drug, I Came To Believe, Was Love.

I Continued To Protect Him With My Silence.

I'd Known Enough Flush Times And Lean Ones To Understand That Money Came And Went. And That One Day I'd Also Lose My Looks, My Seemingly Boundless Energy And Maybe The Ability To Catch The Eye Of An Attractive Man And The Audacity To Rollerblade. My Name Would Be Forgotten. So Would Bad Reviews, And Good Ones. But Loving A Child Is Something That Lasts. Long After All The Rest Is Gone, That's What Endures.

When I Was 12 Years Old, I Read Nancy Drew Mysteries And Biographies Of Madame Curie And Florence Nightingale And Books About Girls Who Love Horses Or Go To Nursing School. I Belonged To The Girl Scouts And Got A's In School And Rarely Disobeyed My Parents. I Still Kept A Collection Of Barbie Dolls In My Room, And I Almost Never Spoke To Boys.

I Believe Every One Of Us Possesses A Fundamental Right To Tell Our Own Story.