30 Days of Honesty

Day 17 :: A book you’ve read that changed your views on something Saving Graces by Elizabeth Edwards. Before I read this book, I thought that I was helping my friends by being self-sufficient. I never understood that it balances the scales of a relationship to ask for help every now and again. This book is unsparing, even scorching in its honesty. There were times as I read how she dealt with the death of her son that I had to put the book down. I was embarrassed for her when she admitted she went to the cemetery and read Wade his lessons so he could keep up with his classmates. I cringed when I read how she questioned, fought with and finally came to a new acceptance and understanding of God and faith. But by the time I was done with the book, and her journey, I understood the courage it took for her to share that horrible vulnerability, and how doing so helped others cope with heart ache and loss. I know her personal life has become controversial, painful and untidy. But to me, she remains a great lady. She wrote in her next book that she finds the lyrics to Leonard Cohen's Anthem inspiring, and I remember them whenever I think of her: "Ring the bells that still can ring/forget your perfect offering/there's a crack in everything/the light behind to see."

Day 18 :: Your views on gay marriage According to the Bill of Rights, each state has to provide equal protection under the law to everyone. So to me this is like interracial marriage -- controversial now, but in 40 years, schoolchildren will wonder what the fuss was about.