Oh Kay

Clark Reflection Series - Prompt:  What happens when “Time Stands Still”? Take some time to reflect upon moments in your life when time has stopped. What or who caused/causes time to stand still for you? How did you feel in that moment, and what have you learned or realized from that experience? Response:  The first boy I fell in love with had the bluest of eyes, curly curly hair, & mini pecas all over his face. Yeah, I know. Dreamy. He took me on this date to Gruene once. We ate at the Gristmill, got some ice cream from the corner store, walked around boutiques. Y ou know, all that cheesy stuff. At one of these massively expensive boutiques, Johnny Cash came on.   And we stopped.   He pulled me in close and we danced. Even though he never danced. We slow danced without fear or all the "You break it, you buy it" signs. Slow danced while I stared into his  beautiful and he into my quite ordinary eyes.   And time stopped. So ...

Written for my Humans of UIWSOM blog post. A couple of months ago, I watched an amazingly strong woman tell her story to the entire Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents. She stood in front of a large room, full of the leaders from each osteopathic medical school across the nation and showed an immense amount of strength by choosing to be vulnerable – to be vulnerable in order to empower others. Over the next few weeks, I watched e v e r y  s i n g l e testimony in the case against the monster called by Larry Nassar. I watched each young woman tell their story. And tell it loudly. Recently, a friend of mine told me her story. And although her story was told behind closed doors, it was told with the same amount of strength and power as exemplified by all of the women who I watched share their stories with the nation. And so finally, here I am. I am not nearly as brave, not nearly as strong, as I sit here behind my screen. But here I am, to finally (and very v...