Since their dad is a huge baseball fan, my girls have grown up watching a lot of baseball.

But mostly to realize that I, her mother, the one who was supposed to nurture and protect her, am part of the reason she has reached this place of darkness.

My daughters’ generation is lucky. For the most part, Dads are completely involved in their kids’ lives like my husband is.

I will continue to work on me, push myself to new limits a if only to show my daughters all that women are capable of once they set their sights on something.

I am to support her dreams and help her discover how to reach them. There is no reason that she can’t do what she aspires to and I need to make that one thing very clear today.

Perhaps the observation that someone is old should be considered a crown of glory, a thing of beauty, rather than a slight.

Be something more interesting than the length of your legs, size of your bootie or whether you have adequate 'thighbrow.' Instead of sexy be real.

When I cook and garden with my kids my world is vivid and understandable. I feel like we have everything we need: confidence, connection, simplicity, love, learning, ability and each other.

Twenty-nine years ago, in a country halfway around the world, I was raped. Until now, only a handful of people knew.

There is another side to this passing of the torch – a sadness that I cannot deny. Because just as her star is beginning to rise, mine is beginning to fall.