[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] I know I have been offline for a while, much longer than I intended.  I am so far behind on my obligations, for those of you waiting on me to do a story, I apologize.  I have tried dozens of times to pick back up, and get back on track but my words just wouldn’t flow.  My mind wouldn’t focus. For me writing is therapeutic but I haven’t even been able to bring myself to do the things I know make me feel better. This entire year has been a disaster for everyone, but for me, it…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.3″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.3″ hover_enabled=”0″] This is part three of an ongoing series, if you haven’t read the other two, and don’t understand, just scroll back. This will conclude with the biggest life-changing event of my life, but there were signs.  Remember this could happen to any female. It’s not just me.   December 27, 1996, my parents packed all of us up, during winter break, to take us from Kansas to Galveston Island, Texas. We had never been to the south and the island was not for a vacation. My parents loaded up me and my three sisters to make a 1000-mile journey, not for pleasure,…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.3″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.3″ hover_enabled=”0″] Since sexual violence has been such a major part of my life, I will be breaking these stories down into segments.  The purpose of sharing my experiences is to inform people that it’s not ok. It can happen to anyone, at any age, but you can bounce back from it.  The pain never goes away but you can learn and grow from it. After my sister got out of the burn hospital, we moved to a small farm town in Western Kansas.  There wasn’t much to the town, very little for teenagers to do.  We had a bowling alley, movie theater, Dairy…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.2″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″] One of the biggest topics I speak to young people about, during my public speaking engagements, is my rape and how it destroyed me, yet changed me for the better. It was the worst thing in my life, but in its own way, it became my strength. It goes deeper than that. Being a rape survivor, and my life experiences, are a big part of why I am not behind the Me Too movement. Rape victims, worldwide, have fought a hideous battle since forever. Then, there are people who get ahead in life by sleeping with men. This does not help the…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.2″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″] I remember the day I found out I was pregnant how scared I was.  Growing up in a big family and seeing the evil in the world first hand made me not ever want to have kids.  I had a successful career and that’s all I ever wanted from life. Nonetheless, here I was staring at a pregnancy test that showed I was indeed pregnant despite the precautions I took.  I even fainted. I was in such shock. The father had always wanted a family and despite him being my boyfriend from high school I really didn’t think our relationship would last. …

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.2″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size=”20px”] The past few years have been definitely landmark years of the changes and bizarre occurrences. However, 2020 takes the lead for the year that will mark the beginning of a new life, life as we know it will change. The coronavirus aka COVID 19 hit the world with a vengeance. What they say is not a man-made virus has spread like wildfire and infected thousands, expected to infect millions.  Making this a landmark time in history. In order to curb the spread, the world leaders have literally shut the world down in an effort to put us all in a bubble.…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.1″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.1″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.1″ hover_enabled=”0″] Divorce is the indifference of marriage. When you are planning on marrying that person you love so much you don’t think about how badly it may end. You are caught up in the joy and happiness and lust vs love. You have dreams of a happy life together but we never think about how bad things can go when they end. Divorce is an ugly thing. It’s two people who put love and trust in each other and built a life together but for whatever the reasons it didn’t work. Sometimes couples have major problems like infidelity, abuse or addiction. Other times…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.0.7″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.0.7″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.0.7″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.7″ hover_enabled=”0″]As we enter into 2020, we aren’t only entering into a new year but a new decade. As we close out the last year and the last ten years, we can’t help but reflect. Reflect on changes in the world as we know it and the changes in our selves. The past ten years in our country have been pretty crazy if you think about it. We have had major technological advances; we have had civil rights changes. Gay marriage became legal and we had our first black president. Where we see signs of progress, we have also had major regressions in our…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.0.7″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.0.7″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.0.7″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.7″] A letter from a little boy, living in a battered women’s shelter, to Santa Claus, really touched my heart but it also brought up emotions and made me realize that I need to share the only thing that I am ashamed of in life.     Most who know me would never know that I allowed myself to be trapped in an abusive unhealthy marriage for years. I can’t really say why I stayed as long as I did. I, of all people, know better. I had been in a marriage before that had zero signs of abuse and one day the monster…