Although I'd first seen Senator Hart in Aspen, Colorado, at a New Year's Day party in 1987, we hadn't talked.

I've had to recover not only from a single well-publicized incident, but several years of press aftermath.

I was always an overachiever.

I stared at the television in shock, watching as my private life was revealed to the world.

I'm stronger knowing that while Donna Rice could be sold, she could not be bought.

Since it was too difficult to get into the Screen Actor's Guild in New York, I moved to Miami in 1982 and started a successful career as a television commercial actress, obtaining my SAG card there.

So on May 1, 1987, at Gary's invitation, I agreed to see him one last time - to confront him face-to-face about his sincerity and with the intention of ending our brief relationship.