In April of 2015 I found myself sobbing tears of uncontrollable emotions that caused my shoulders to shake. Sitting next to me was an empty box of Kleenex and all my used tissues.

The culprit of my outburst was Diane Sawyer’s interview of Bruce Jenner when he finally confessed to the world…on camera I might add…that he was a transgender. 

I watched as he gently shared his painful, yet triumphant journey of mustering the courage to accept himself as the person he always believed himself to be along with giving himself the permission to finally express it out in the open. 

Regardless of how you might feel about his choice…you have got to admit that took a TON of COURAGE!

“She is not my friend!” announced my 3-year-old granddaughter as I put her into my car.

I must admit, I was a bit confused myself at her outburst of clarity and conviction. 

See, I had just watched her play with what I thought to be a newfound playmate for over an hour in the McDonalds play land.

As she climbed into her carseat, I had to ask, "How do you know she is not your friend?"

Her reply was simply, “Cause I didn’t feel good when I was playing with her, I just felt icky.” 

Now, I need to mention, that besides the conviction in her voice, there was no emotional upset whatsoever.

Yes it is possible!

In the early afternoon of a hot summer day, I was playing in my room and began to hear raindrops on my bedroom window. This was followed by my mother’s screams echoing throughout the house.  

“Staci, get your swimsuit on, it’s time for cooking!”

At this point with nine years of life under my belt, I had learned that my mom was usually up to something. Mom had such a way of making the most ordinary situation in life very magical, despite my dad dying and leaving her with 5 kids to raise and no money.