Sweet 16

I have 16 followers this week!  That is 12 new followers since February.  I am reminded that I had already run away from home by the time I turned 16.  Back in those days they threw you in jail with adults that had committed crimes.  So I learned at a tender age that the system was an unfair system that would punish me for trying to prevent more violence to myself.  If I had known the word emancipation, I would have asked the court to emancipate me.  By the time I was 18 years old, I had escaped both the abuse of my family and the system that would punish me for the escape.  My enemies continue to believe that trying to push me around and trick me is the way to control me.  My enemies have overlooked a crucial survival attribute, mistaking it for a character flaw.  I continue to defend and protect that 16 year old that was kicked around by everybody including the very people who should have been protecting her.  And while she is long gone, the core of her that was not damaged has learned to thrive on adversity!  I just refuse to be pushed around in my adult body by bullies!

I haven't learned very much about my 16th follower yet.  This person may be Hispanic.  Sometimes I attract Hispanic followers because of my pseudonym Concha Castaneda.  Taking a pseudonym has been empowering and paramount to my survival.  Why would I keep the name of my first oppressors?  I only do so as I can not afford to legally change my last name.