Many women my age have known the experience of giving up crucial parts of themselves to please the man they love.

My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?

To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it.

Long after Salinger sent me away, I continued to believe his standards and expectations were the best ones.

For 25 years, I did take my responsibilities as a pleaser of others sufficiently seriously.

Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had been too painful.

The word NO, carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.