I was raised in a Bronx public housing project, but studied at two of the nation's finest universities. I did work as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting violent crimes that devastate our communities.

My mom loved the book [My beloved world] and she said to me, 'I never knew you had done so much.'

I am a very spiritual person. Maybe not traditionally religious in terms of Sunday Mass every week, that sort of thing.

If the issue is letting the states experiment and letting the society have more time to figure out its direction, why is taking a case now the answer?

Recalling the aftermath of her father's death from alcoholism at age 42, this memoirist reminisces: I couldn't deny that our life was so much better now, but I did miss him. For all the misery he caused, I knew with certainty that he loved us. Those aren't things you can weigh or measure away. ... They're not opposites that cancel each other out. They're both true at the same time.

People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible. Page 1.

I am growing to love DC. But the core of Sonia is a New Yorker.