Dear Dr. Laura,
I was surprised to hear my previous email read as the
email of the day on 07/03/13 regarding the attack on me by a stranger while I was riding my bicycle for exercise. Thank you for sharing that with your listeners. This is a follow up to what has happened since then.
After unsuccessful plea negotiations, we went to trial and the attacker was found guilty of a Class A felony. Maximum prison sentence is 20 years. Yesterday, I met with the parole board who will be setting the minimum sentence to be served. That determination will be forthcoming in the next 2 weeks.
Although I am able to relate what happened to me with friends, family or strangers, with minor emotion, testifying in court and before the parole board was emotional and probably the hardest thing besides the actual fight for my life I've had to do in my 51 years. Mind you, I am a critical care nurse with 30 years under my belt. I am fortunate to have a strong psyche and experienced dreams of being chased by a stranger only briefly after my attack. I have ridden my bicycle alone or with my husband past the attack site multiple times without anxiety or fear. I DO have pepper spray easily available. I also now wear neon workout wear as much as possible. Luckily, my face-to-face role in this is finished. I am ready to move on and look at this as if I had a near death experience in the ocean. A wave crashing and holding me underwater a little too long, but releasing me just at the point I think I can't take another second, pop my head up and take in that gulp of fresh air.
Dr. Laura, I love listening to your show. I have a new appreciation for how the mind works: the strengths as well as the weaknesses. In my next life perhaps I will pursue that line of study, but for now--I've got a lot of life to live and live well.
Aloha!
Diane
