I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and a friend. East coast girl. I believe in miracles, honesty, & good whiskey. Go Birds. Go Phils.
To everyone so eager to cancel someone for a tattoo they got at age 22, a drunk text, a selfie they took in the middle of a mental health crisis:
Show us your laptop.
Show us your iCloud.
Open your entire digital life to your worst enemy. No context. No filter. No explanation.
You won’t.
You won’t because you know what I know. Any one of us, frozen at our worst moment, photographed in our lowest hour, looks like a monster. Looks like a stranger. Looks like someone who deserves to be cast out.
That is not who we are.
My mom and baby sister were killed in a car accident when I was just a kid. Cancer took my brother Beau, my best friend and my rock. I battled alcoholism. I battled addiction. I chose the coward’s way out more times than I can count.
For years I believed the defining chapters of my life were written by tragedy, loss, and shame.
I no longer believe that.
Pain can shape us. Loss can humble us. Failures can leave scars that never fully fade. But none of them have the authority to define us.
And it sure as hell ain’t the critic that counts.
That authority belongs to us alone-the person in the arena.
Every setback presents a choice. Play the victim, or cut the bullshit and take ownership for who we become next.
Life does not determine our character. It reveals it.
Again and again we are asked the same question. When shit happens, what next?
We are not defined by what happened to us. We are not defined by the worst photo, the worst text, the worst tattoo, the worst night. We are defined by the person we choose to become. And by the courage to choose that person, every single day.
So before you reach for the gavel - show us your laptop.
You won’t.
The whole world saw mine. And I am still here. Still becoming. Still choosing. Still standing.
That is the only definition that matters.
@aj_muse_ My son asked the same thing. He’s 13 & is feeling ALL the shit now. He loves his AJ jersey & was really pissed yesterday. We took him to both parades, but he really remembers this last one. We rewatched our video of AJ’s speech on the Parkway, so he decided to keep it.
@IcyVert If it’s everyone on the team, it’s the manager. I’m glad Topper’s gone. I was sick of seeing his dumb bass mouth emotionless face.
Not saying he isn’t a nice guy, but nice guys don’t get a pass here.
@IcyVert Harris is trash. Heard some guy on WIP say that he got kicked out of the game yesterday… not drunk, not cussing, just saying Harris should sell the team. He said he was a paying customer and the product isn’t living up to the price - and he got booted. How soft is that?
April 22, 2012 — The Flyers finished off the Penguins in Game 6 at home. Lauren Hart & Kate Smith brought the house down with God Bless America that night. We need that magic again. Let’s go @NHLFlyers