From Nemesis to Neighbor: Healing Through Shared Threats

<![CDATA[When I was a teenager, I had a nemesis. She was a year younger than me, pretty, and seemed to take joy in finding something — anything — for which she could mock me. One November day, being from an impoverished family, I had nothing proper for my feet but Jellies — those flimsy plastic shoes no one in their right mind would wear in cold weather. She spotted me in the hall, stopped, looked me over, sniffed, and announced, “Jellies? In winter?” before striding away with her friends in triumph.]]>