Last year's Thanksgiving sucked mightily and ended with me in tears.

A friend of mine spoke out about them publicly in my city. His dog was found poisoned and the lug nuts on his tired were loosened, causing a tire to fall off on the highway.

Coal miner's granddaughter and native West Virginian here, too. Yes, coal is a killer. My great-grandfather went into the mines in after dropping out of third grade. As an adult, he lost his leg at the hip because of faulty mining equipment. Screw coal.

Also, fuck those people who say abortion is all about convenience. I had an undetected pregnancy (a rare false-positive pregnancy test and I was still breastfeeding my toddler and hadn't had a period since before he was born) and then an abortion at 20 weeks, 6 days. It was agonizing. The procedure was a three day…

I didn't have the option of putting up a baby for adoption. I was leaving my husband (domestic violence case). To put it up for adoption, I would have had to have notified him and gotten his permission. He never, ever would have given it. I worked full-time at a job with no paid maternity leave. I had a two-year-old…

Yes. Any future children of mine? I wouldn't be able to talk about having future children if I hadn't had an abortion.

That's my fear. Putting my life or my existing child's life/safety in danger.

Yes. Absolutely.

It's all so damned thorny. I'm 100% pro-choice (on demand, without apology, all of that). But I'm a pro-choice woman who had a late-term abortion under difficult, heart-wrenching circumstances. If I'd kept that pregnancy, this would be the month my child would have turned two. I don't have a lot of space where I feel…

I agree with you, but is it wrong to bring up that a woman being DENIED an abortion would have overwhelming emotional consequences, and this is why we should al ways respect a woman's right to choose?

I can't help it, these things make me cry. I wrote one to mine, too. I wanted to keep that pregnancy. I wanted it so badly. The only thing I wanted more than that pregnancy was for my existing then-toddler to be okay. To continue that pregnancy, I would have had to have given up my existing baby. I plan on having…

Her facial expressions just kill me. So fun!

I had an awful labor and delivery, but my close friend tops mine, by far.

Me! Me! I ate mine!

Hollins alum, here (2005, Horizons Program). There were many of us on campus, when I was there, who spoke out against this policy. What disturbed me most, though, was that we had trans students who were ftm, and the grad program admitted cisgendered men— but transwomen? Nope, not without The Surgery.

I teach 8th grade in the inner city. Almost entirely minority population. More kids come out to me (yes, in 8th grade) every year. That clip? Yeah. This is why I have that big rainbow triangle poster in my room (and a sticker on my door), letting those kids know that for at least a few hours a week, they're with an…

Same with me. It's frustrating, because the battery life very suddenly dropped, it hasn't been gradual at all.

Actually, my 8th graders are inner-city, almost entirely minority and economically disadvantaged. So it could be interesting seeing their thoughts on the two books.

That's a great way of describing the difference. I'll probably use that with my students (8th grade English teacher). Thanks!

I loved Son so much. It just tore my heart up to read. I know part of it is because I read it as a mother of a little boy myself. The description of her birthing experience made me feel a little queasy in sympathy for how deeply wrong and misogynistic it was. But beyond that, I appreciate that Claire was ordinary. She…