Not for Everyone

Next month I will be 41. It took me well into my late thirties before I began to even realize who I really was or even wanted to be, and even a few years after that until I began to feel comfortable enough to allow myself the freedom to enjoy her. I became carefree and and truly embraced the woman that I was. I had a wife that loved who I was and encouraged me to love myself. I became passionate and I was not afraid to stand up for and voice my opinions about those passions, and I was not afraid to show my emotions for those passions. Lately, I have been so overwhelmed with these emotions of rage and sadness for this state and this country and for the people. I have told personal stories in hopes of helping others. Those who don’t have a voice, those who are to scared to speak up, those who need to know they are not alone. I have been told I am a bad ass bitch and I have also been told that those stories do not belong to the public. That those are personal stories and people do not need to know my personal business. This is where I disagree. If every girl is told to keep their secrets of assault, or rape, or wrong doing from a man to them selves and not tell, what are we teaching? When and how will we get this to stop? When will we start to empower women and teach them that they are stronger than the monsters? What do you want your daughters to know? What do you want them to do in that situation? Do you want them to be quiet, or do you want them to shout it out that someone did something to them that was wrong? And now with the new abortion laws… I just have thoughts of assaulted little girls forced to go through with pregnancies. Too young to babysit yet forced to become mothers. I don’t know. I have so many thoughts and it all weighs so heavy on my heart. I was 18. I got pregnant. Abortion was not for me. But I do believe that every single person deserves to make their own choice. No one should get to make that choice for them. What’s happening?