Published Letters: 6
...It's OK If You Are a Republican. The right does this kind of thing for years and no one blinks; in fact, we all hear how clever their noise-machine is. We do it and we're Evil! EEEVIL! *shaking head*...
Since you're obviously reading the letters here: I've met you, years ago (local media book tour for "Stepping Westward"), and I've always thought of you kindly since, and enjoyed reading you.
I was/am my own mother's heartache, and I now have two little girls who I know will make me worry the rest of my life. There's nothing wrong with them, I'll just always be hovering somewhere in the background, worrying.
I have no better advice for you than the advice you are giving yourself already (not that you're asking--just sayin'). Just know that a former radio producer you met once is sending you good vibes for this difficult situation.
...and not a journalist. I had the exact same problem as you. I hated making people uncomfortable. Now that I'm "just a writer," I'm much happier. I love writing. Cary is spot on: Make yourself useful some other way than being an in-the-field journalist.
Not because she's not having sex--I went three years celibate once, not by choice, but it was a good time in my life--but because she has massive, massive father and control issues. I hope some day she finds real peace, because the "peace" she has now is external.
And I wonder about the man she's now pinning her hopes on. While I don't doubt that a man can choose chastity, I suppose I've heard too many stories of relationships that start out that way and finish with the woman discovering that her relationship was sexless because her partner was gay--and she was just a beard.
Good luck to you, Dawn. You need it.
My dearest LW, and I truly mean that, get out now while the gettin's good. Don't even bother with the ultimatums. And go back to those rooms. Al-Anon is not for his drinking; it's for your recovery from this experience. It's not about him, it's about you. Keep the focus on yourself, because you are all you can control.
I could have written that letter, a few times, to my infinite humiliation. Serious work on myself is all that got me over it (and I was lucky enough to find the love of my life, which didn't hurt). For me that meant getting sober and getting humble, but it didn't end there. I don't know what it'll mean for you. It's a painful place to be in, that obsessive, out-of-control place, and I don't miss it at ALL. I wish you the best.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox