HuffPost Personal

I Traveled To Meet With 50 Women In 50 States. It Totally Changed How I See The U.S.

"As beautiful as my experiences were, I was also confronted by the darker threads of our nation’s fabric."
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I Received An Anonymous Text. With Just 8 Words, It Brought Back The Shame I Thought I'd Buried.

"My heart sinks all the way down to my feet. Instantly, I feel the same survival responses as if my life were in danger: freeze, fight, flee or fawn."
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I Lived As Someone Else For Nearly 2 Decades. Here's What Made Me Reclaim My True Identity.

"Being her made it easer to talk to people and make friends, but no matter how many years went by, I wasn’t her."
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I Spent 20 Days In A Raft With A Silent Stranger. I Never Expected The Twist Ending To Our Trip.

"Entire days would pass without me being able to come up with a single interesting conversation topic. Doug’s reticence certainly wasn’t helping."
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After 3 Years, I Finally Got Pregnant. My Joy Turned Into A Nightmare I Wasn't Sure I'd Survive.

"Within a week, I was so weak that I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was starving and in pain, and my mind was foggy."
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My 3-Year-Old Began Saying 3 Devastating Words To Strangers. I Was Shocked By What Happened Next.

“She was too young to know when a stranger asks you how you are, you’re supposed to say, ‘I’m fine,’ and move on.”
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I Paid Money To Cuddle With Strangers. It Didn't Go The Way I Thought It Would.

"More disturbing was the huge window on the south wall of the space. It had no blinds or drapes, so people on the upper floors of the building across the street could look right in."
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I Grew Up Thinking My Father Didn't Like Me. It Was Decades Before I Learned The Truth.

"If my dad were still alive, it would hurt him to read these words. He never intended for me to feel like a nuisance. So why, then, did I so often feel that way?"
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A Letter To My 1-Year-Old Son About His Abortion

"We will wait until you are grown to tell you how fortunate we were to live where we did, because if we hadn’t, we might not have had you."
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I Was Addicted To Meth For 7 Years And No One Had Any Idea

"I always made sure to look the part of a smart, together, confident young woman. ... People who wear glasses and pantyhose don’t do meth, right?"
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