“My first experiences with sexism were within my own family. “I’m the only girl. I have five brothers. I had a Christian upbringing. I’m still a Christian. But my father would use the Bible to kind of diminish my voice. He...
“I was born and raised in the Netherlands. When I was 20 years old, I wanted to go away for a year. But I also wanted to have some financial stability. So I decided to be a nanny for a Dutch...
“I’m an introvert. I like my alone space. But you don’t have alone space anymore when you’re a mom. With two kids, that’s something I had to navigate. Especially with my first child. Two months after he was born, I developed...
“I played volleyball in middle school and high school. Then I got a full ride to play at Lee College. It was my first year there, and we were at a tournament in the El Paso area when I landed wrong...
“The death of my mother is definitely something that I had to deal with because I was not prepared. I mean, nobody’s really prepared for death. I was an only child. Being as close as I was to her, it catches...
“Her name is Tutti. Like Tutti Frutti. She’s a Chinese Crested/Jack-A-Poo mix. When she was very young, the people who had her stepped on her. They said the kids were real mean to her. So we ended up taking her. “She...
“My mom and dad had 11 kids. I’m the baby. I’m 38 years old. I’m single. I’m homosexual. And I’m the only one who doesn’t have any kids. Altogether, there are like 65 grandchildren. “I fight a depression sometimes because I...
“When you’re on the street by yourself, it feels pretty worthless. I don’t want to be here. It gets very lonely. I’ve been very depressed. I cry myself to sleep every night. I just wish I could find somebody to love...
“When my dad died, he was just 41. He left behind my mom and five kids. I was the oldest at 16. The youngest was 3. The toughest part was just trying to go on with life. “Mom was in such...
“I will never, ever, ever forget that night. “My dad was working for the old Houston Post. He was circulation manager for the La Porte area, where we lived. We did a lot of things together, including deliver the newspaper. “I...
