I read a press release today that left me seeing red. Designed to destroy the victim, as if the sexual assault hadn’t done enough, the defense attorney, before any trial on the merits, announced as fact the victim’s lack of character and worthiness.

I remember rain falling that Easter, cool, crystalline drops. I remember racing, laughing, for the patio and shelter; I remember cheap, plastic eggs coloring the yard like wildflowers. Days like today, I can almost hear my grandmother’s soft, ready laughter and taste the slightly melted chocolate of a Hershey bar left too long in the heat.