Karen Travis

Karen Pedersen Travis is a retired communicator who now writes creative nonfiction from her home in Minnesota. Her previous essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including GRIFFEL and Church and Life magazines; Along the Shore: Strategies for Living with Grief; Months to Years; the Orange Blossom Publishing blog; and Humans of the World blog. Karen is currently writing a book about experiences growing up in Southeast Asia in the 1960s, where her parents worked as Lutheran missionaries.

Good Girl Hood

Good girls can’t lie, but they can’t always tell the truth, either. We must be well behaved but not prudish. Smart, but not boastful. Attuned to others’ without being needy. Strong, but silent. It’s a club I began subscribing to after my parents’ divorce. I joined without anyone telling me I had to, embracing the unwritten code without giving it a second thought.
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