Dear Temperance Brennan:You taught me almost everything I know. You taught me more scientific facts than any school, you taught me that no matter my past, I AM the one who builds my future, you taught me to always question everything, you taught me that modesty takes us nowhere, you taught me that there is a world full of possibilities that our eyes can’t see, you taught me to never give up.
Dear Seeley Booth:You taught me more than any men I know. You taught me that it’s not because I can’t see something that it doesn’t exist, you taught me that my heart can lead my brain, you taught me that a lion heart can also have a lion mind when it comes to protection, you taught me that sometimes we need to put ourselves second place, you taught me that crying is required.
Dear Angela Montenegro: You taught me more than any friend I have. You taught me that sometimes your heart comes first, you taught me that the world is not as evil as we think it is, you taught me that everyone deserves happiness, you taught me that what goes around comes around, you taught me that real friends translate each other, you taught me that happiness is the most precious thing to have.
Dear Jack Hodgins:You taught more than any teacher I know. You taught me to live life to the fullest, you taught me to have an opinion, you taught me to always defend my point of view, you taught me that patience is a need, you taught me to be a perfectionist, you taught me that “too bad” is way better than “what if?”, you have taught me to always be passionate on what I do.
Dear Camille Saroyan:You taught me more than any “boss” I know. You taught me that heels and a “bossy” attitude work great together, you taught me to be vulnerable, you taught me to see people beyond their words, you taught me to be grateful for the people around me, you taught me to “loose” sometimes, you taught me that my life, my rules.
To every single one of the characters on this show a huge THANK YOU, to all the squints, to all the guests, to Lance Sweets, to James Aubrey…. each of you taught me a life lesson. Every episode was a lesson.
something is “off” about your partner and you can’t quite explain or pinpoint why.
you frequently second-guess your ability to remember the details of past events leaving you psychologically powerless.
You feel confused and disorientated.
You feel threatened and on-edge around this person, but you don’t know why.
You feel the need to apologize all the time for what you do or for who you are.
You never quite feel “good enough” and try to live up to the expectations and demands of others, even if they are unreasonable or harm you in some way.
You feel like there’s something fundamentally wrong with you, e.g. you’re neurotic or are “losing it.”
You feel like you’re constantly overreacting or are “too sensitive.”
You feel isolated, hopeless, misunderstood and depressed.
You find it hard to trust your own judgment, and given a choice, you choose to believe the judgment of the abuser.
You feel scared and as though “something is terribly wrong,” but you don’t know what or why.
You find it hard to make decisions because you distrust yourself.
You feel as though you’re a much weaker version of yourself, and you were much more strong and confident in the past.
You feel guilty for not feeling happy like you used to.
You’ve become afraid of “speaking up” or expressing your emotions, so you stay silent instead.
" 1. Go to a party and stay sober. Listen to the way your drunk classmates talk when they don’t plan to remember tonight when they wake up. Never talk about these experiences, just keep them for yourself.
2. Start driving in one direction on the highway after school one day, pretending like you’re running away. Blast bad pop music and sing along. Stop in the suburbs when your mom calls you to come home, but buy your little brother a cupcake before you turn back around.
3. Kiss your best friend. It doesn’t matter what sexuality or gender you are or they are. It doesn’t matter if it’s a peck or you escalate to tongue. You’ll laugh about it later, but it will always make you smile just for the memory.
4. Smoke a cigarette. Let it burn your throat. Cough, loudly.
5. Take a stand for something you believe in. When half your school laughs at you, take it with pride. Someone agrees, even if they’re too scared to say so.
6. Make enemies. Make the kind of mistakes that cause your life to implode. Lose everyone and everything to these mistakes. Only when you fall will you find out that you can pick yourself back up.
7. Sit on someone’s roof and talk for hours. Forget about dinner and tell your origin stories. Let your guard down while the dog barks below. Talk about god. Listen.
8. Steal Bourbon from your parents’ liquor cabinet and put it in a water bottle beneath your bathroom sink. Spike your tea with it when you think you’ve hit rock bottom. Pour the whole thing down the drain when it’s too strong for you.
9. Become a stereotype. Buy a record player and combat boots. Wear all black. Dye your hair bright blue and get your ear pierced three times. Don’t care when people laugh at you.
10. Make wishes at 11:11. Wear your pajamas backwards in the hopes of a snow day. Look for answers at the bottom of a bottle. Pretend writing things on your arms makes you special. Believe in anything. Believe in everything. Open every book and look around every corner. You’ll never look like this or move like this or think like this again. Enjoy it while it lasts or hate every second. But feel. Feel every damn thing. "
It’s 2009 and I’m 14 and I’m crying Not really sure where I am but I’m holding the hand of my best friend Sam In the waiting room of a Planned Parenthood The air is sterile and clean, and the walls are that not grey, but green And the lights are so bright they could burn a whole through the seam of my jeans My phone is buzzing in the pocket My mom is asking me if I remembered my keys ‘cause she’s closing the door and she needs to lock it But I can’t tell my mom where I’ve gone I can’t tell anyone at all You see, my best friend Sam was raped by a man that we knew ‘cause he worked in the after-school program And he held her down with her textbook beside her And he covered her mouth and he came inside her So now I’m with Sam, at the place with a plan, waiting for the results of a medical exam And she’s praying she doesn’t need an abortion, she couldn’t afford it And her parents would, like, totally kill her
It’s 2002 and my family just moved and the only people I know are my mom’s friends, too, and her son He’s got a case of Matchbox cars and he says that he’ll teach me to play the guitar if I just keep quiet And the stairwell beside apartment 1245 will haunt me in my sleep for as long as I am alive And I’m too young to know why it aches in my thighs, but I must lie, I must lie
It’s 2012 and I’m dating a guy and I sleep in his bed and I just learned how to drive And he’s older than me and he drinks whiskey neat and he’s paying for everything This adult thing is not cheap We’ve been fighting a lot, almost 10 times a week And he wants to have sex, and I just want to sleep He says I can’t say no to him This much I owe to him He buys my dinner, so I have to blow him He’s taken to forcing me down on my knees And I’m confused 'cause he’s hurting me while he says please And he’s only a man, and these things he just needs He’s my boyfriend, so why am I filled with unease?
It’s 2017 and I live like a queen And I’ve followed damn near every one of my dreams I’m invincible and I’m so fucking naive I believe I’m protected 'cause I live on a screen Nobody would dare act that way around me I’ve earned my protection, eternally clean Until a man that I trust gets his hands in my pants But I don’t want none of that, I just wanted to dance And I wake up the next morning like I’m in a trance and there’s blood Is that my blood? Hold on a minute
You see I’ve worked every day since I was 18 I’ve toured everywhere from Japan to Mar-a-Lago I even went on stage that night in Chicago when I was having a miscarriage I mean, I pied the piper, I put on a diaper And sang out my spleen to a room full of teens What do you mean this happened to me? You can’t put your hands on me You don’t know what my body has been through I’m supposed to be safe now I earned it
It’s 2018 and I’ve realized nobody is safe long as she is alive And every friend that I know has a story like mine And the world tells me we should take it as a compliment But then heroes like Ashley and Simone and Gabby, McKayla and Gaga, Rosario, Aly Remind me this is the beginning, it is not the finale And that’s why we’re here And that’s why we rally It’s Olympians and a medical resident and not one fucking word from the man who is President It’s about closed doors and secrets and legs and stilletos from the Hollywood hills to the projects in ghettos When babies are ripped from the arms of teen mothers and child brides cry globally under the covers Who don’t have a voice on the magazine covers They tell us take cover
But we are not free until all of us are free So love your neighbor, please treat her kindly Ask her story and then shut up and listen Black, Asian, poor, wealthy, trans, cis, Muslim, Christian Listen, listen and then yell at the top of your lungs Be a voice for all those who have prisoner tongues For the people who had to grow up way too young There is work to be done There are songs to be sung Lord knows there’s a war to be won
