I’m very excited in returning to college to finish getting my English Literature degree! Taking a year off was what I needed to evaluate what I want to do and where I’m going. The biggest decision was to stay at my current college or go somewhere else. Before my leave of absence, there were many changes. Some that were very jarring to me and also I had doubts about my major. I love writing but not technical. But “Time heals all wounds” as they say. And it also lets you digest the chan...

“I know I look a little scary, but don’t be afraid. All I want is a friend.” This is from a page in my children’s book I’m Smiling on the Inside. As a grown woman, it’s sometimes ironic that I feel this way too about adults, particularly men. It’s like I’m some Halloween Woman that men run away from! There’s a lot to be said about how a man reacts to how a woman looks, and I know how this is to be true! LOL!

But in all seriousness, I wish men weren’t so frightened. Just l...

Because of being born without the ability to smile, I learned that I had to define what a smile is.  If I could physically smile, would that be the smile I actually want? Or is a smile more than facial expression?  Growing up I never really thought about it. I knew I looked different and there were times I would fantasize about having a beautiful face with a glowing smile. But most times I just didn't really think about it.

When I was in my early twenties, I saw a little girl on the news tha...

I’m sorry I haven’t written anything for a while. The winter months always seem dark for me.  Both of my parents got very sick and died during this of year. So you can see it has its haunting reminders.  The last few months of 2013 have been more of traumatic than in recent years. My next door neighbors, whom I have known since I came to live here fifteen years ago, decided to move. They were getting older and wanted to be closer to their family. I understood and supported their decision,...

If I should write a fable, it would be something like this: There lived a littlest kitten. All the other kittens didn’t care about him. They thought he would never amount to much since he was so small. “You’re never big like us,” they taunted him. He was hurt that they said things like that and left him out of the group. But he always remained kind to them.

The kittens loved chasing the rats around the house. It was fun and for exercise. “It’s s so much fun to chase our food! We...

One word that I can describe about the book, Far from the Tree, is challenge: the challenge for people with differences to love themselves, the challenge for families to accept their loved ones as they are, and the challenge for society to embrace people of unique personalities and physical differences.

As a person with many differences, I can relate to the many people featured in the book and understand what is like to live in a society that is very challenging and confusing.

I apprecia...

I wanted Normal but Normal didn’t want me. I didn’t understand this. It really unsettled me. One day I talked to Normal: “Why didn’t you want me?” I asked. Normal replied: “Because normal is not normal anymore.” Perplexed, I asked what that meant. She said: “Normal was normal a long time ago. When people were first created, they were normal. Their life was centered on caring and loving one another.  However, when they got to be rich and interested in achievement and in ma...