In 1983 I lived in Fall River, MA and went to the funeral of Cardinal Medeiros. It was covered by what was slow media then, and Matt Lauer covered in for WPRI out of Providence, RI.

I was 23 and cute. And single. He hit on me. He gave me a smarmy vibe and did not return the offered smile. And there were plenty of other females for a young, still haired him. I am glad I listened to my intuition. But I was not in his profession, and well, I heard stories of his partying at the Black Pearl in Newport.

I am a #metoo but not his. I also knew that there would be huge blowback from the Me Too movement, as my intuition said, one woman would be outed for lying about harassment. And this came to be so.

No we don’t need CK Lewis. No we don’t need Matt Lauer. We need to support the women around us to be brave. To listen and not judge. To believe the men who care about women and never raised a word or finger to hurt us mentally or physically.

I’m 58 this year. I use my life experiences to listen to younger women, support them with reality. Help them trust themselves. And tell anyone, no matter gender or sex, to fuck off if they are demeaned in anyway. I use what disposable income I have to support women. And I don’t care about what they believe or who they vote for. Women, we make life happen.

Stand up women. Stand with me and refuse to hate. Let’s just refuse to hate.

AMMI annmariemaddenirwin

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Survivor with a body of knowledge. Grandmother who worries about the future. open-minded, progressive, Connecticut Yankee in Texas. Life on life’s terms.