That was very kind of you, thank you. And no, you did not offend me at all.

In fact, I want to thank you. I went back and "read" this through not my eyes. I understood instantly what I had done. It read almost like I was thinking out loud, information gaps and all.

That was a gift. I used that to shore up what I am working on now - making sure I do a better job making information connections. So, thank you, ma'am.

And, yes - shared experiences create a shared "short cut" vocabulary, or shared conceptual vocabulary. But that works with us - you and me - too, in our own way. We are both women, both provoked by the riot, both likely held to different standards than men, for example. The hope is that all of the varied shared experience networks (woman, wife, mother, lawyer, older than, ummm, you know 20ish X, and so on) can find some common ground in here.

(For example, you and Ray - below - both wrestled with this text. Ray says I write like Black Yoda, and he's not wrong. Ray is a Black man, and he connected more with your experience than my messaging).

Something else I need to work on. So, you taught me even more, and I guess I owe you TWO thank yous!

Mask, mask, mask / distance, distance, distance - yes! Could not agree more. Please stay safe as well.

Catherine