Michelle Knight

It never ceases to amaze me how strong and resilient some people turn out to be when faced with the most horrific circumstances. The plight of Michelle Knight, one of the three women held captive in Cleveland, Ohio, for over a decade by a monster named Ariel Castro, bears amazing witness to that fact. To listen to the horrors this young, tiny woman endured is spellbinding, beyond shocking. It left my mind dizzy and numb with incredulity. How did she survive these long years of endless abuse, beatings, whippings, rapes, chained like a tortured animal, deprived of proper clothes, warmth, food and medical attention? Terrorized endlessly, humiliated, starved, isolated? But Michelle Knight did survive, and speaks with great strength and conviction of her determination to survive, to not give up. She is beyond inspiring, and makes me want to try even harder to be a better, stronger person. We all have moments and times in our life where we feel  like giving up, where we feel what we do does not seem to amount to  much, or that we do not seem make headway in our goals and dreams. To hear and see Michelle Knight speak of what she endured and how she manged somehow to hang on to hope and the will to survive, sure puts a different perspective on what I believe to be insurmountable in my own life at times. I draw strength from Michelle Knight's incredible courage and amazingly strong spirit. She reminds me we are all in this mystery that life is together, and that we are never better as when we are connected and share our trials and triumphs. Michelle Knight's suffering was not in vain, because she survived her decade long imprisonment and torture, and she inspires everyone who hears her story. The fire that all her suffering was unable to extinguish was not only strong enough to carry her through, it is powerful enough to spark determination in each one of us, determination to be strong too, to be grateful, to refuse to give in to regret, self-pity, sadness and despair. I hope Michelle Knight heals well from the terrible physical and mental abuse she suffered, and finds good friends and someone special to love who realizes what a remarkable woman she is. I wish her all the best, and I hope she realizes how grateful and glad we are because she will inspire us for many years to come. Thank you, Michelle. It is my fondest wish for you that you will find a family who will love you and treasure you, and that you will be able to call your own.