Hello, world... here we are!

Maybe you've come to this page by accident? Welcome! Maybe you're here "on purpose"... because you are a Registered Citizen? Of course, you're welcome here. Maybe you are an advocate who has dedicated your life to fighting the injustices facing registered citizens? You are especially welcome here. Or, maybe you are a "troll" or an advocate who opposes the basic human rights that we are fighting for? Unlike a lot of social media, your opposing thought is welcome here, too. These days society is too polarizing and intolerant of ideas that they don't agree with. You will find your opinions respected here, and I would ask the same from you.

This blog is meant to show that we are all much more alike than we are different. Some of us come from different parts of the world, or the country. Some of us have many different back grounds and educational levels. Some of us have different beliefs. But we all have certain things in common; a desire for respect, the hope that we can love and be loved, and one more thing... no matter which of the above groups you find yourself in, we all have this one thing in common: we have all made mistakes.

Some of us have made small mistakes while others of us have made huge, life-changing mistakes. These mistakes and the decisions behind them may have taken only moments to decide but their impact may last a lifetime. Some of these decisions were made one time and a lesson was learned. Others are made over and over again and cause a real concern for troubling behavior. I truly hope that whoever you are and whichever group you are in that you have learned a lesson.

I don't know where I heard it, or who said it, but I want to share this with you. I hate to say that there are three kinds of people, because in truth there are only two; There people in the world who like to say "There are "x-amount" of kinds of people in the world, and then there are people who do not! But in all seriousness and for the purposes of this bit of wisdom, there are three kinds: There are those who learn from the mistakes of others. These are wise. There are those who learn from their own mistakes. These are experienced. And then there are those who learn neither from others nor their own mistakes. These are fools. I hope you do not find yourself in the last group. If so, please seek help.

This blog will tell stories of the struggles faced by registered citizens. You more likely know us as "registered sex offenders." Ex-offenders would be more accurate, with registered citizens being preferred. I simply want to show that for many of us, our hopes and dreams are the same as anyone else. We most likely have the same family structure. We celebrate the same holidays. We all have financial responsibilities. We share the same struggles as most people, but with several very restrictive, Draconian challenges and requirements added.

We do not wish to excuse our past behavior. We do not ask for special treatment. We have children and grandchildren of our own that we want protected and safe. We want nothing more than to be recognized as having done our time, paid our debt, and to be given a second chance after making that most terrible of mistakes. We simply ask for a chance at redemption.