When you start thinking of yourself as damaged goods, you put up defenses to make sure no one has the chance to reject you, so I told myself I would never get married, never have children, and never do anything to change who I was. It was only after I had my own status, my own money, and the contraceptive benefits of menopause that I began to allow myself to have a different view. Playing the cards I’d been dealt became my badge of honor, not a burden.”
