Age: 26

Political Affiliation: Independent with a touch of Libertarian

Hobbies: Webpage design and constant brainstorming on how to wake up America!

Political Pet Peeve: The term African American, I mean geez I guess that would make me an Irish American, and we Irish Americans need our own history month too.

Favorite Politician: There isn't one.

Role Models: Believe it or not I would have to say Madonna. What other woman do you know that has enough guts to broadcast her views so "loudly". Express Yourself!

My early childhood wasn't pleasant. I was molested at the age of four and my parents divorced due to alcoholism at an even earlier age. My mother remarried another alcoholic, and thus I spent my early years competing with my stepfather for her attention. Co-dependent is an understatement.

At the age of fourteen I disappeared from a bus stop in Little Rock, AR. Leaving my parents to believe that I had been a victim of foul play. I made it to a truck stop and for four months I toured the country from the seat of a "Big Rig." It wasn't until I was raped and all of my clothes were stolen in Atlanta that I finally decided that I'd had enough of the world and returned home. I made up the lost classes in summer school and graduated high school three years later.

I went to a private liberal arts college and by the second semester had managed to get myself kicked out. A year later I got involved with a young man who had just been released from prison. He had stolen a car and off we went to begin our new lives together.

Arrested--Interstate Transportation of a Stolen Vehicle. It didn't matter that I didn't know that the car was stolen or that I had no prior criminal record, I was given Federal Probation and turned out on the streets of Denver. Needless to say, I had no where to go so a kind Nun got me into a homeless shelter. My parents were ashamed and due to my stepfather's work (Substance Abuse Counselor) I was told not to expect any help from them.

Tested Positive for HIV--Horror, my boyfriend tells me that he had tested positive and that I needed to be tested. My first reaction to what the counselor was telling me was shock. I quickly asked to be excused to visit the rest room and left the building. I never returned to that clinic for another test and went through 2 years before I sought another test. At this stage in the medical testing phases for HIV a few sexually transmitted diseases would turn up as an HIV positive test but would later turn up for what they were. Unfortunately, I did not know this and it wasn't until I returned to my parents home that I went and was tested two more times with both results returning negative.

In the mean time, I had temporarily lost my mind. I had no care for what I did, or who I was with. Let's just say that I wasn't a model citizen and secretly desired to be imprisoned. God granted my wish. You see, I felt that if I were in prison, I would at least have a roof over my head and medical care. After two years of incarceration, and much self-reflection, I emerged like a butterfly out of the cocoon.

Please, don't misunderstand my past. I am a very honest person. Aside from these few years that I was not myself, I have never done anything illegal and haven't done anything since. I do not blame any of what I did on my past childhood. I knew the things that I did were wrong, but I had a higher goal in view. Namely, self-preservation was the key motivator. Still full of grief and anger over what I had done to my unborn child I was thrust into a death sentence. I'm sure that there are many people out there that have reacted in the same way that I did to the knowledge that they are HIV positive. They just don't have the privilege that I do to now say that they are not HIV positive.

I am now married, with a lovely three year old daughter and one on the way. I am an enterprising ambitious young woman, although due to my past I could never assume any political office. (Gee darn!) I do however run my own business, an upscale Consignment Shop, and through this course of business I am able to really help out within my community, by donating tons of clothing to our local women's shelter, nursing homes and retirement villages.

I must make this clear though, I am an activist. I do not approve of the death penalty, but then again a life sentence isn't just either. After serving time myself, I know that a prison sentence is only a mild form of punishment. If you have a criminal who has no family then prison is no punishment at all. The only way that our society can hope to do anything about our current desperate situation is to be able to punish their children at home without the fear of being called a criminal.

I could probably write a book on my experiences, I've had so many. I've learned many different things about society because of everything that I have gone through. I've also learned that you can't trust the government, city, state or federal, and you certainly can't trust the biased liberal media. So...who will we turn to for deliverance?

I suggest that each and everyone of you take a deep look at yourself and your life and ask yourself----
"Is it really worth my silence?"

Tyler's Articles

• Insurance vs. HMO
• A Vigorous Defense?