Do Your Magnificent Things

“Leave your pain here and go out and do your magnificent things.”--Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, to survivors of childhood sexual abuse who testified in court about their experiences.

I love being Jo Ann Hardesty’s official photographer. Last night at a fund-raiser for her, I made some photos of her that are among my favorites. They seem to me to show her child-like joyful energy. I look at them, and I can see her as a seven-year-old, looking forward to doing her magnificent things. And here she is, all these years later, still doing her magnificent things.

I enclose a couple of extras--another portrait of her with her braids flying, and a picture of her in front of a mirror, addressing the crowd. If you look closely at that one, you can see, at the very back of the crowd, two arms and a camera. That’s me, taking this photo. Most of the time I had to stand on a chair or a cabinet. The space was small and tightly-packed with human beings, and despite the chandelier, dark, but the mirrors help.

I have been moved by the trial of the serial child abuser, Dr. Larry Nasser. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I am grateful to all the women who testified at his trial, who told their stories. When Judge Aquilina spoke to them, I heard her speaking to me. When she spoke to the perpetrator, I heard the ring of justice. At last. I begin this blip with a quote from the judge, thanking the survivors. I hope every little girl who has been abused--and every grown woman who was ever abused as a child--can hear what Judge Aquilina said, and can take it into her heart.