Growing up conservative Christian, I was not taught empathy. It was not something that comes naturally to that group of people. Instead, they are taught fear - and a whole lot of it. Fear of hell, fear of God, fear of other religions, fear of other ethnicities, fear of loss of power, fear of loss…
Are They All Yours?!
That was a phrase I heard countless times, ad nauseam, growing up as a child. As the oldest of five, then six, and eventually seven children – you grew used to hearing comments of incredulousness and awe from people over the copious amounts of offspring your parents have produced. Other common phrases were “Wow,…
An Open Letter to My Parents
I am a sexual assault survivor. At 17, on New Year’s Eve, I was sexually assaulted by a man much older than me. A man who was my best friend’s cousin, a man who got us girls a hotel room in SF for New Years. I was drunk and high from alcohol and…
From The Ashes 