“We are born with the potential to create our own pearl necklaces. Our pearls begin to form as we move through life experiences. When an oyster’s solitude is invaded – say by a grain of sand – it responds to the invader by secreting nacre, a light but incredibly strong mother-of-pearl substance. Over the years, the oyster diligently secretes its powerful nacre, layer upon layer, until a pearl is formed—one pearl unlike any other created in nature.

As meaningful life experiences invade our solitude, we too shape our pearls. Some enter college with nascent strands. When I entered a private women’s college, my irregularly shaped pearls were layered with nacre.

In the summer of 1977, I turned thirteen. At that time, domestic violence and child abuse laws were not meaningfully written or enforced. A summer evening encounter with a police officer created the most luminescent pearl on my strand when I witnessed the perverse allocation of power.”