Nobody Special From Nowhere USA

I am nobody special form Nowhere USA. My life experiences do not set me apart, but they do give rise to my writing the words that literally live in me. To my core, I believe that reading, writing, listening and speaking are the gifts that define us. For me, they are the elixir of life.

My opinions are strong because as a kid of alcoholic parents, I was too afraid to share them.

Many nights, I wanted to scream, but only silent tears escaped me. As I grew, I found I was less afraid and more angry. Initially, fear became rage. Later, rage became determination.

I went back and finished college in my late twenties; then I went to work. Actually, work is the wrong word, Teaching is my lifeline, my breath of Fresh air. My students remind me that there is hope in a country so divided. Each generation is supposed to be better than the preceding one. What I witness daily is more compassion, thirst for knowledge and willingness to think beyond what I ever achieved as a student. They are better people, and will run America much better than we are today. They will create the future we wish was our present.

I do share my words with them. I teach history because understanding and questioning the past prepares them for leading in a complicated, too often cruel world. I use my words to comfort them in times of loss and to push them when they are exhausted. I listen to them because they teach me to be who I wish my parents could have been. I am the teacher. But often, the words I share with them are the parts of myself that release the little kid who had so much to say, yet never found her voice.

Sis