I don't want my wrinkles taken away - I don't want to look like everyone else.

If adolescent pregnancy prevention is to become a priority, then our strategy, as advocates, must contain two key elements: civic engagement and education.

Who am I? I'm a survivor. I'm a woman with tremendous inner resources and resilience. I care about people. I believe in 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you,' and I live by that. I am becoming authentic, and that's important to me. I have surpassed both my parents in terms of emotional stability, happiness and well-being. And I'm a lucky woman. I've deserved my luck.

I wasn't pretty enough to be the pretty girl and I wasn't unattract­ive enough to be the dorky girl.

I always had a penchant for falling in love. Every time I found myself without a mate, I fell into a state of low-sizzling panic.

The bond between a parent and child is the primary bond, the foundation for the rest of the child's life. The presence or absence of this bond determines much about the child's resiliency and what kind of adult they will grow up to be.

Being by myself, that is to say, without a man - it's been a long time - is allowing me to know what it feels like - to live in my own skin, to remember what I miss and don't miss about a relationship.