Author Archives: dahnajeen

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About dahnajeen

I'm Donna Jean Hunter. I'm also Donna Cox - former married name and the name I share with my children and with my ex-husband, father of my children, and friend, David Cox. My 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Patterson told me I was a great writer and would be an author when I grew up. She always had me read my stories to the class, and even took me around to the other classrooms to have me read to them. I'm pretty sure the other kids all hated me that year. I don't care though. I love Mrs. Patterson. Of course she did not know then about the Internet and blogging, how much of what people read would no longer be on paper - and how much of it would be done for free! - when I grew up. I have had 10 or 12 of my pieces published in college literary journals, and for a while during college, I actually received pay for working as a technical writer. Then for a few years I taught writing to teenagers as a high school English teacher. But other than that, I can't say I'm a writer in the sense that it is what I do for a living. But I am a writer. I have been all my life and can’t see myself ever stopping whether anyone reads it or not. I hope someone enjoys some of it.

Who was your cheerleader?

Posted on October 26, 2025 by dahnajeen

I read somewhere about the importance of a cheerleader in a child’s life – someone who really sees them, notices their accomplishments, and cheers them on. Ideally every child will have more than one of these, but this was about … Continue reading →

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Before I Was a Twinkle

Posted on August 31, 2025 by dahnajeen

Before I was even a twinkle in his eye,My father risked his life To fight in a foreign landAgainst a great evil. Now that evil has taken root here,And grows steadily stronger Nurtured by foolsIn the country that he loved.         … Continue reading →

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Who are you walking with?

Posted on May 3, 2025 by dahnajeen

Walk with me for a moment. Please think of a great injustice from history – a systemic denial of rights to a group. There are a sad plenty to choose from – different issues, different groups denied, but they share … Continue reading →

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What You Don’t See

Posted on March 19, 2025 by dahnajeen

I would not have survived the world you are creating now. If what is happening in this country now had happened a few decades ago, it would very likely have killed me (as it already has other women.) My daughter … Continue reading →

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What I Won’t Say . . .

Posted on February 6, 2025 by dahnajeen

If you live long enough, you will see how wrong you are right now. You probably won’t acknowledge it, but you will see. It will be impossible not to. You will see then how on the wrong side of history … Continue reading →

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I Believe You Now

Posted on November 16, 2024 by dahnajeen

You showed me so many times who you are now. But I didn’t believe you. Because I didn’t want to. I couldn’t bear letting go of who I thought you were. Who you used to be. I miss that person … Continue reading →

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You Should Have Lost Me

Posted on November 15, 2024 by dahnajeen

You should have lost me long ago. Likely, you would not have noticed,But I feared the cold if I let the fire die. So, I kept the fire.All alone, like my mother before me,I have watched and tended, kept the … Continue reading →

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Advice from Maya

Posted on July 31, 2024 by dahnajeen

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them . . . the first time.”— Maya Angelou Believe them the first time. Don’t wait for them to keep ON showing you. Because they will. It’s such good advice. I believed … Continue reading →

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Tomorrow Magic

Posted on July 12, 2024 by dahnajeen

If I had magic, here is the first thing I would do with it: Tomorrow, all misogynist men will wake up as women. Each of them will retain full awareness and memory of their entire previous life as a man … Continue reading →

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Musical rabbit trail

Posted on November 10, 2023 by dahnajeen

Come with me down one of my rabbit trails if you will. (It starts happy and ends sad, so you can stop here if you want.) Yesterday, I saw an adorable video of a little boy singing Al Green’s “Let’s … Continue reading →

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