Dear Sunnie,
You don't know me, but this morning I read an article about you. Ever since then you keep crossing my mind. As I went around town today in my jeans and men's Oxford shirt and sweater, I thought about you. As I came home from the gym tonight, I prayed for you. And all the while, I wished I could write you a letter...the kind of letter I wish someone had written to me.
I don't know how to get one to you, though. I thought about trying to send it to your grandparents for them to read to you, but I'm not sure if it would make it there. So instead I'm writing this and posting it on my blog. Maybe somehow these words will find their way to your grandparents and they will share them with you. Or, maybe years from now you'll find them online, and know that a lot of people were...
Lifestyle
Dear Mom and Dad,
I was filling out an application the other day. It asked me what I felt my greatest accomplishment thus far was. I thought for a moment and answered that I am most proud of surviving all that came with coming out to you as a lesbian.
I am an adult and a college student with a job and a life apart from you. I've been told that I don't need you, and for the most part I rarely think about your absence. I have said before that I sometimes forget that I ever had parents; my life is too busy to dwell. Part of that is denial, isn't it? Being 20 years old hardly makes me an adult, and one always needs family, no matter his or her age.
I have lost friends, extended family and mentors as a result of coming out, but all those are secondary to parents. Friends come and go,...
2,232
Dear Happily Married Friends,
You may remember me as a twosome. I was married for a long time. I had a husband. And then we decided to separate and divorce. Now I'm just Becky, on her own.
First and foremost, let me say that I am truly glad that you're married and in love, that you're working on fixing that leaky roof and redecorating the master bath. I think that sounds like more fun than wrestling Cameron Diaz in a vat of baked beans. Honestly.
But I'm going to have to talk to you about something I've wanted to say since my husband and I split in July.
Divorce, unlike this flu I can't seem to shake, is not contagious.
I know, I know -- it may seem like I'm dying of divorce. But I can assure you I'm not. I'm okay; I'm going to survive. I know this because I'm a nurse and I...
2,359
Dear Sam,
Is it okay if I call you Sam? I hope so. I took the initiative to do so because we are now both members of one of the most closely-knit communities in the world, that of being a parent of a child with Down syndrome.
We face a lot together, us parents of children with Down syndrome. We strive to make the world more accepting of and inclusive toward our kids and the tribe they belong to. Towards this end, we share resources, we empathize with one another, we nurture each other and we guide.
When you left Armenia with your newborn son Leo, headed for the more supportive and disability-welcome pastures of your native New Zealand, you sought to raise $60,000. You wanted to be able to stay at home with him part-time. With your story going viral, you have since raised...
2,617
Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.
It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We...
2,502
Dear Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg,
I usually take great pride in calling myself an alumna of The George Washington University -- but not today.
You made comments on the Diane Rehm Show this week about how college women drinking too much is feeding the campus rape crisis, and in doing so you perpetuated the dangerous notion that it is a woman's fault for being sexually assaulted or raped. It is disturbing to think that as the former president of GWU, current president emeritus and a professor of public service, this is how you view college rape culture.
But it's not surprising.
What was she drinking? What was she wearing? How was she walking? How was she talking?
These are the questions that often get asked, as if a man's decision to sexually violate a woman is somehow the...
2,327
Hello ladies and gents,
I figured it was about time to address the marital quagmire you find yourselves in. Despite having had the benefit of thousands of literary critics and moviegoers pick apart your lives over the years, none of you, for reasons we can only speculate, has ever sought the practical advice of a divorce lawyer. Enter me.
We all know your story: Daisy and Tom married young; Gatsby was in love with Daisy all along, stalked her for years and moved into the house across the pond so he could stalk her more easily (Gatsby I'll say it: you creepy); Tom was, shall we say, a bit of a ladies' man; Gatsby, seeing the marriage wasn't so good, made a move on Daisy, and then stuff really hit the fan. Since then, your social engagements have been nothing but awkward, and I'm...
3,141
Dear Teenagers,
By now you have heard about Rachel Canning. You know, the 18-year-old girl who left home and then decided to sue her parents. Her parents gave her an ultimatum. Either live under their rules or leave. So she left. She then sued her parents to keep paying for her education and money to live on. Of course kids will side with Rachel and parents will side with the parents.
The news went viral and both sides look pretty bad.
What Rachel is going through is something I went through too. A lot of adults did and honestly, I would bet that your parents went through it as well.
It is called the "sh*tty teenage" stage.
I was a good kid. I always looked up to my parents and was very respectful. They provided for me and did the best they could with what they had. I...
2,360
Dear Turkey Bacon,
I remember the first time I saw you. I was starting out on my weight-loss journey and I was in the bacon aisle. I knew that in order to lose weight I would have to stay away from bacon for a while. So it was extremely exciting that I saw you out of the corner of my eye.
I have heard about you before. You are the "healthy alternative" to bacon. I remember looking at your package and wondering how turkey got to be pink with a strip of white. I wondered how turkey could be bacon. None of that mattered to me. I was just so excited that I would be able to incorporate bacon into my new lifestyle.
I remember taking you home and cooking you. Sure, you did not crisp. Sure, my house smelled more like smoke than bacon. I was okay with all of it.
Then I tasted you....
2,702
Dear General Motors,
One of your Buick commercials airs on my television on a regular basis. In it, a white man and woman peer out the window of their upper middle class home at their neighbors, the Garcias. A new Buick Enclave pulls into the Garcias' driveway. It's a nice car, but they don't recognize the make or model. The woman wonders aloud, "Maybe he got a raise." The man, who by this time has grabbed a pair of binoculars to see better, replies, "Good for him." Across the street, Mr. Garcia gets out of the driver seat; he is a very attractive man. The woman mutters appreciatively, "Good for her," and her husband looks at her, askance. A voice over says, "Enclave. One of five expectation shattering models from Buick."
The first time I heard this commercial I was in a different...
2,383