Ford testimony showed great courage

The great courage Christine Blasey Ford openly displayed before the entire nation at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into Judge Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court did not come of her being fearless and/or full of rage; she showed up shaking in her boots, trying to just do what was the right thing to do.

Why did it take so long? An intersection of time and circumstance in life moved her to open her mouth and speak of something that she long wished had never happened. Ford and every one of us have been party in life to something we try to keep stuck far back in some silent corner of our mind. And if, as victim or perpetrator, it is ever told, it probably is in search of bit of rectitude, solace, forgiveness, or even as an opportunity for further abuse by those that have refused to better live and learn that compassion received by one is extended by another.

The lack of granting some understanding for a very frightened Ford prompts wonder: What unspeakable memory holds it back?

Sam Osborne

West Branch