Since I was a child, I realized that I was not wired like most people. Growing up in abject poverty, being evicted from 34 homes by age 17 and living in various cars, projects and cockroach-infested motels will do that to you. That said, I honestly view those years and that forced rewiring of my mind as a blessing.

That experience opened my eyes at that young age to two invaluable truths. The first is that life is brutally tough and continually cruel for the vast majority of people in our nation and world. The second truth, which is now being completely overwhelmed by growing irrational hatred, is that we really are all in this together.

Since the horrific assassination of fellow human being, husband, father and son Charlie Kirk, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about those years and the poor and disenfranchised people I knew back then doing everything in their power to feed their children, pay the rent, keep the electricity on and find one fleeting moment of peace........

© The Hill