Strong

The entire world now knows their names. Michelle Knight. Gina DeJesus. Amanda Berry. These three Cleveland women lived a horror that I cannot even begin to fathom. It is over now, and I wish them peace and healing.

When I heard the 911 call Berry placed, I was struck by how confident and strong and present she was, although I could hear the nerves. And she was nervous for good reason, because Castro was coming back. Twice she told the operator her name. "I'm Amanda Berry." She added her circumstances; hoping, I suppose, that the operator would realize what that all meant and there would be an immediate response. Ten years is a long time to be gone. It's so long a time that folks could have forgotten her. It's so long a time, and she was so abused that maybe she would have forgotten who she was. Such treatment could have robbed her of her identity; her very soul. But it didn't.

If she wants to retreat and just live a quiet life, certainly she has every right to do that. She owes us -- the public -- nothing, even though it seems the details will be offered up for public consumption. She has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, and certainly she and Knight and DeJesus will be encouraged to testify against Ariel Castro.

What amazing resilience and strength, to endure things I have trouble wrapping my mind around. All three of these women are young enough to be my daughters, and I stand in awe. So much evil could crush a person, yet the voice I heard in that 911 call doesn't sound like a victim at all to me. I feel honored today to just live on the same planet, to know that such strength exists. Selfishly, I suppose, I hope she will share more of who she is with us in some way. I would think all three women would be asked for interviews, and there could be offers of book deals and the like. It's not that I want to hear the gory details necessarily, but I just want to feel the spirit of someone who can go through ten years of hell and emerge victorious.

She said it twice. "I'm Amanda Berry." Yes, my dear.  You certainly are.

Susan