(Grace’s Note: This post deals with a topic that some of you may find stressful: sexual abuse. If this is too difficult for you to read about, you may want to skip over this one. Part 1 of my story is here, and part 2 is here.)

(Grace’s Note: This post deals with a topic that some of you may find stressful: sexual abuse. If this is too difficult for you to read about, you may want to skip over this one. Part 1 of my story is here, and part 3 is here.)

(Grace’s Note: This post deals with a topic that some of you may find stressful: sexual abuse. If this is too difficult for you to read about, you may want to skip over this one. Part 2 of my story is here, and part 3 is here.)

I was always amazed at how Mac took an enormously complicated process and made it sound as easy as boiling water. He’d probably say it’s because he was a Texan. Whatever the reason, I found the simplicity reassuring. I remembered how I’d met Mac so many years ago.

People fly in private planes all the time, I kept telling myself. No reason to be so nervous. But all I could think about was how a little girl from Compton made it here.

I'm so excited to announce that I've been nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award by Viviana of A Roseylicious Life. Thanks, Viviana!

Have you ever seen a little plant growing in the crevices of a sidewalk?  It seems impossible that such a small thing as a sprout has the strength to crack apart roads, the symbols of human skill and speed, but there they are. Those persistent little sprouts always make me think of hope, and how powerful it is.

I never understood how my father decided where we would go; I was convinced he just threw darts at a map. Have you ever driven from Los Angeles to Canada with six kids in a car and a mattress on the roof? It was unconventional, but it was family time, and we always managed to make it interesting.

As the last of six children, I enjoyed a life very different from that of my oldest sister. She spent her first years surrounded by strangers in a cannery in northern California, while I spent mine surrounded by family.

Risk can enrich our lives—by pushing us out of our comfort zone to confront our worst fears. The story of my parents demonstrates the value of taking a risk and betting everything on a dream.