I first want to thank you all very much for the warm welcome to WordPress! You, ladies and gentlemen, are incredibly awesome! I have not been blogging here very long, so I am still learning the basics, and fine tuning everything as I go while doing my best to learn a little more about posting guidelines and etiquette. I will be revamping my About the Author page soon with a much more detail-oriented bio as soon as the opportunity presents itself. There is so much that I am excited to share with you, but it will take time. I have a five year old son, a job, a house (yard inclusive) and the diligent pursuance of a college degree to attend to, so it leaves me very little time or energy to do my own thing (sleep, also inclusive). My remedy for all of this? I DRINK BOATLOADS OF COFFEE, or else I would not have lived to tell of it otherwise. I also have the world’s most understanding and supportive boyfriend, so that just speaks for itself!
An especially big thank you to everyone who has been interacting with me in regards to observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and who have been sharing with me their deeply personal connection to this topic. My blog initiative’s central focus for the month has been a challenge, to say the least. I have been driven to this purpose for very personal reasons. I attended a Speak Out Against Domestic Violence event at our local shelter last week, and shared two of my poems from this month’s offerings, and have since had a very serendipitous intersection with two very wonderful ladies who were also in attendance– one who blogged about it after the fact, and one who lives at the end of my street. Domestic Violence happens everywhere. It knows no race, region, gender, class, or sexual preference. I write only from a woman’s perspective because I am a woman, my abuser was a male, and I am a survivor.
If you or anyone you know has experienced family or intimate partner abuse, please call your local shelter or the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Hotline at: (800) 799-SAFE (7233) or TTY: (800) 787-3224. It could save a life.
In Potentia. 
You are a talented poet. I hope you keep sharing. I’ve enjoyed reading, even tho I haven’t commented.
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Thank you so much, Melanie! Your blog is of special interest to me, especially because you have such a sharp wit about you, regardless of the trouble and hardship you are facing! Your strength is reflected in all you do, and someday it will pay you back for staying headstrong and never giving up.
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Thank you! I hope I can keep trying to laugh and not give up.
We all need to stick together. I get strength from reading you and others. Every time I happen upon another writer I grow a little bit. Thank you for being one of the writers willing to share and shout.
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Without a doubt, strength in numbers. The more people choose to stick together during tough times, the louder their collective voice. I will never be quiet, lord knows I spent long enough suffering in silence. Domestic violence hides in every dark corner of the world, and anyone who has seen it is a traitor against humanity to not speak out against it. I will always have your back, no matter the degrees of separation, no matter the unfamiliarity. Those who have suffered alone, I believe, will grow to share in that common thread of unity.
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I too will never stop shouting. Ditto to I will always have your back. One stick is easy to break. Two is harder. A bundle is impossible.
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I’m SO happy for you and the path you’re on, and that you have a safe, loving, supportive partner. I feel this kind of Love helps heal wounds from the past and creates a safe space for true Love to flourish.
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