the one-year bell strikes right now.
it should never have happened.
one year on, i feel regret. just regret.
people within the community that were affected by it derided the plaintiff and presumed that she was a burly man who just had to go ruin it for their fairy-tale SoC lives. the press reported it as an “out there” story and wasn’t at all fazed by it. opponents practically came at word of the news and trumpted their victory in a muted kind of way.
and then, everyone forgot about it. except me. in the 365 days since then, i’ve tried, but i simply don’t have that kind of strength to forgive and forget the most telling moment in my life, a moment that irrevocably changed the direction of my career, my reputation and my dignity. not from what happened on November 29th, 2001, but on October 6th, 1997.
i want those four years back. that’s all i want.
no, i lie. i want solace. i want a shot at redemption.