Dear Hannah,

I have written and sold two magazine articles.

One was about how I financed my college education.

That was published in 1994.

The other was about coming home to take care of our newborn daughter (Hannah), and to become "me" on a full-time basis.

I learned the same lesson twice with these experiences.

You must tell your own story.

When you sell stories, the purchaser turns your story into the one they want to tell ... the one that they think will sell.

In their version, you may become a much tamer, controllable, sanitized version of yourself.

Your voice may morph into their voice.

So why put yourself through this?

Well, one part of my story they did not edit was my byline ...

"Derrick Brown's (derrick.s.brown@att.net) "standup storytelling" about love, change, equality, power, (self-)control, and purpose can be found at http://reachthenteach.com ."

This will allow anyone who wants "the rest of the story" to connect with us to learn it.

That opportunity is valuable, and may be worth the pain of being edited beyond recognition.

Because it is still "my" story.

Love,

Daddy