I never had that feeling that I had to carry the weight of somebody's ignorance around with me. And that was true for racists who wanted to use the 'n' word when talking about me or about my people, or the stupidity of people who really wanted to belittle other folks because they weren't pretty or they weren't rich or they weren't clever.

Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where formerly he was not even allowed to vote. We were enlarged by tears of pride as we saw Nelson Mandela's former prison guards invited, courteously, by him to watch from the front rows his inauguration.

You may not remember what a person said to you, you may not remember what a person did to you, but you will never forget how a person made you feel!

We do the best we can with what we know, and when we know better, we do better.

It's wonderful that whenever Patsy Cline's name is mentioned, people's voices fall and they become right sentimental. And, rightly so.

I don't think there's such a thing as autobiographical fiction. If I say it happened, it happened, even if only in my mind.

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.