Janet Topping

Tag: resilience

  • The Permission Slip That Started Everything

    I pressed the pen against the permission slip for the sex education class and wrote her name, my hand moving with the practiced confidence of someone who had memorized every curve and illegible scrawl. The “B” curved exactly as hers did, wide and looping, before dissolving into the messy chaos that passed for the rest…

  • What would you name the people in your life?

    I never called her “Mom” in my story. She became “The Keeper” because she kept the rules, the keys, and the silence. Have you ever given someone in your life a secret name? A nickname that captured more than what they answered to? Sometimes these symbolic names hold power for us rather than giving power…