“I have been sobbing this morning for the dignity of humanity, because alone in my room, no one can see my tears, the pain of a mother who blames herself for failing this world by not getting the messages out in time.”-me, November 14, 2016, 12:37 pm
There was a time when you could have powered a large city off the guilt I felt for not writing sooner about what a fraud Trump was - for not pressing send on my first anti-Trump column until September of 2016, on the day I learned he would win.
I was a longtime member of the media in the second biggest market in the country, and it was a dereliction of duty that I didn’t go public sooner. I was living my best life at the time, and had left newsrooms behind.
But once I did go public, I wrote fast and furious, spitting out dozens of posts, hoping to sway the wind.
It’s funny to think I fought the war on Tumblr, with a naked surfing avatar. It’s kinda perfect.
The post I am reading you today reflects the despair I felt as a mother, alone in her room, in a home that had grown cold.
“I’ve been told I have’t smiled since Tuesday. I’ve spent the morning being comforted by strangers.”
I turned increasingly to Twitter to find a support community, and a woman in Massachusetts rescued me on that day.
Have a listen.
CW: It’s a weeper.
To read the print version of The Kindness of Strangers, please go here.
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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you, as well, to those who support my work with coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. My reflection, Confessions of a ‘Fox Blonde’ was recently published in Byline Supplement. In a review of my latest ebook, the erotic novella Fox Undercover, author Greg Olear called it “The Big Sleep 2.0” except with “not so much sleep happening.”
Save the date - the next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Feb. 26, 4 pm.
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
Bette Dangerous Podcast Ep7 - The Kindness of Strangers