June’s Story: My mother died twenty years ago, yet I never grieved for her properly until recently. I got stuck obsessing over which exact moment she died and never moved on to the grieving. I witnessed the moment of my mom’s passing, and yet I missed it, or...
Michele’s Story: When smoke fills the air, you know the Holy Spirit is in the room … or is that just the onions burning? Heat is already in the room with parents from two different world religions. My father was a Muslim from Iran and my mother was a stubborn...
Beverly’s Story: When I was eight years old, my younger sister and I were suddenly uprooted from our home in California to vacation in El Salvador. After we had stayed with my uncle’s family for what seemed a long time, we found out our “vacation” was permanent....
Suzan’s Story: “Why don’t you just lie there and stop crying!” Those were the words of my perpetrator, one of three men who lured my friend and me on false pretenses. Behaving like animals, they used our bodies shamelessly. I was sixteen years old, a...
Ugochi’s Story: My mom always told me you don’t need friends. I think that’s why she and my dad had so many kids. Being the black sheep of the family, I wanted to prove her wrong. Finding friends would be challenging because I was not cool, I had a gap between...
Maya’s* Story: Eager for closure, I arrived early at the courthouse. My marriage had been stressful from the first day and never got better – instead, I feared for my life at the end. When I signed the divorce papers, a heavy weight lifted from my shoulders....
