My community—the sisterhood of survivors in my life, to whom I have never had to justify or downplay my suffering—is what I am thinking about today.
I battled harmful behavior and self-harm for years. Since I have to be strong for the people in my life who aren’t there yet,
I know that I cannot give in to such things at this stage of my recuperation. Being strong means realizing the reality of the saying that I cannot consume poison and expect the other person to perish;
it does not imply being stoic or uncaring. Other survivors should live, in my opinion. After Roe and after the election, it’s a difficult task.
