Caitlin Stewart Truman

My cousin was in the theater that night. She was shot several times; one bullet went through her neck. The fact that there is another human being out there that raised a gun at a member of my family and then pointed it in the direction of her head incenses me. He meant to shoot and kill her.

Get strong from hauling everything you own up and down the subway stairs on a regular basis. Apply for jobs, look at apartment listings, and charge your phone at ugly internet cafes. Stay in random restaurants and bars for hours when it rains because you have nowhere else to go. Feel intensely grateful every time somebody offers you a towel to shower with.

Legally, marriage can be the means to an end. In 2006, I married my friend’s lesbian roommate to someone in the bar where she worked, because I am a minister of the Universal Life Church and she needed to get on her friend’s health insurance plan for some terrifying dental surgery.

This reenactment: Face to face with your ex-boyfriend at a crowded dance club in New York City. He put his hand on your forearm, you both said nothing, and parted ways.