0-59 and going strong

Grown of a distant mother
not a sister in sight
surrounded by girl friends galore.

Held onto them for laughs
and crank calls, sleep-overs, skipping and passing notes.

Some were pretty, or smart, or fat
yes, we said those words back then.
I asked one, what was it like to kiss when you both had braces
and found out about menstruation from a pamphlet called
"once a month the egg travels".

I learned from Mary Tyler Moore
that some marriages were happy and survived
and other unraveled.
I learned that families did not talk about some things that happened
and that we each carried those scars with us into our future.

I packed up my suitcase and married someone whom I didn't like
although I believed that love would conquer all.
and moved across a nation with my smiles and my lies
only to find out that the only one I had was myself.

and then I learned more
that some things cannot be salvaged, some things are not worth holding on to
that your future is only your future if you allow it
that what you have made your way through has given you the courage to share
to speak about, to help save someone else.


We must be the voice for each other, when our words cannot reach the surface
when the pain is too great 
when the fear is too strong
when our strength is diminished
We must, we have to
Because we can.


My contribution to #WomensLives initiative -- a media partnership between PRI and SheKnows Media