Life After Abuse
Life after the trial was challenging even with therapy. I took the not guilty plea hard…
Testifying as a Child
The legal system has many flaws and often fails victims of child sexual abuse. I was one of those victims…
Kelly’s Story
Kelly first disclosed the abuse when she was 8-years-old. She told her mom what was happening between her and her grandfather.
Love Thy Neighbor
My boyfriend adopted a twelve-week old golden lab mix, Augie, and he watched YouTube videos to learn to teach him new tricks. At a special store that sold only organic pet toys, he bought the puppy a special synthetic tennis ball.
Yellow
My ex was a heavy smoker. When he quit smoking twenty years ago he was living at home in Medway with his parents. He started chewing Nicorette, that terrible gum. His Dad worked for a pharmaceutical company and would bring home bags and bags of it. He became addicted to the gum and then had to wean himself
off it.
Changes in My Head
When I was six, Mom washed my hair in the kitchen of our duplex on Cedar Court. I bent over the sink while Mom sudsed up and scrubbed my hair with shampoo. My hair made squeaking sounds. The sounds made me shudder. Shortly after, Mom took me to Supercuts because I needed a haircut before Picture Day at school. I had to put my head in that giant bowl and have a stranger touch it.
Leftovers
You pour hot water over the coffee grounds in your Chemex coffee maker that you have to buy special filters for at the coffee shop on Division Street. Out the window, you see a gold SUV driving by slowly. In your tiredness, you squint and realize it’s your dad in the driver’s seat.
Finding Ways to Overcome Challenges Can Be the Reason We Move Forward
I have learned that I can dream big, write down goals and accomplish anything. In 2003, after I graduated from college, I was struggling with what I wanted to do with my life. I wrote down two goals I wanted to achieve that at the time felt like big goals :
a). Become a small business owner b). Own my own house.
From bankruptcy and food stamps, to fully funding a retirement
At age 35, with my consulting work growing year after year, I started saving and purchased my first home when housing prices in Portland were low. I only put down 3.5%, but it was a start! I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and the idea of purchasing a rental home also appealed to me.