Her legs swung nervously back and forth under her chair from the stand. I couldn't help but notice that her scuffed up vans couldn't even reach the floor. It was as if her eyes were laser beams, burning a hole into the ground for her great escape. I'm sure she would if she could. Thirteen …
daughter of the troops
I sat in the drivers side of the rental car, windows rolled down on a hot mid-afternoon in July across from the sweetest face, the bravest soul, a daughter of troops. I stared into her glassy brown eyes for over three hours as she poured out her narrative, breaking only for the interpretation from the …
be still.
the past two years have brought about some of the best, most thrilling, days of my life. whether riding a motorcycle across Scotland, turning in my thesis to Queens, or attending an event at the White House and watching President Obama dance to Thriller, they have been far from dull days. in each adventure and …
dear displaced
Dear displaced, I am sorry you must live as a stranger in a world you hold equal share in, I am sorry you are treated like a liability rather than a friend, I am sorry you look for hope but only find complacency. Dear enslaved, I am sorry you are trapped when so many of …
across the pond
It was on the back of the motorcycle, riding over and through a sea of green rolling hills and scattered farms, that it all summed up for me. This was a year of friendship, on many accounts. To start, I was riding behind our minister, our dear friend, and in more ways than one, our …
we, the hopeful.
We followed our guide quietly through the drop in center placed strategically in the heart of New York City. This safe haven was as close to home and a family as most of the girls visiting it had ever experienced. A young girl, who couldn't have been older than 13 years old, was fast asleep …
traumatizing the traumatized
"I started working this job because I wanted to help hurting children, but now that I'm in it I simply feel like I am traumatizing the traumatized." Her words stuck with me. As a social worker for the state she watches daily as children sit in an empty office space and wait, sometimes hours on …
5 reasons why i said “i could never do that”
I listened and jotted down notes as the 7-year-old sitting across from me twisted her hair around her finger. Her eyebrows burrowed down as she dug deep into her memory, reciting all the homes she had been dropped off at over the past few years. The little vagabond listed over 20 names and spelled each …
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the loved lost
"Who's stuff is that?" she asked me, referencing the big black garbage bags piled in the back of my car, as we walked out of her daycare alongside her sister. I could feel my heart jump up to my throat and I struggled for anything besides the truth. "Its your things honey." I barely let …
confessions of an arrogant soul
I often am faced with the reality of superhero syndrome. You know, kinda like the bright eyed freckled boy with a sorry red bed sheet tied around his neck leaping to his doom (or broken leg) from the shed roof excepting to fly. The worst part about the fall is not the bruise or break, …
kate rabb 