Wynonna Ellen Judd was born Christina Claire Ciminella on May 30, 1964. Wynonna is a country music singer, songwriter, author, activist and actress. She became famous alongside her mother, Naomi Judd in the country music duo The Judds and Ashley Judd is her younger half-sister.

In my life I have had many dark hours where I struggled to survive being sexually assaulted and subsequently bullied because people twisted the story stating I was homosexual and it took me years to realize that what happened to me had nothing to do with being gay but from power and control and hate. For the record there’s nothing wrong with homosexuality and have several friends who are but I am not. I didn’t choose when I was younger to not be the victim. I hid what happened to me for many years and had a lot of dark hours because of it. The truth however did set me free, when I came out and talked about being molested by 3 girls when I was 11 my life changed. That was the day that I became a victor. The day I found my voice.

People may only be part of your story. For Wynonna as she quoted it’s not just about the music or being famous. You and I can succeed if we try to make something more of ourselves by living and loving and doing something that not only gives your life purpose but touches the lives of others. So be an artist, writer, musician, actress, politician, inventor… but be yourself and find yourself and find how you can make this world a better place.

A wonderful piece of advice from Wynonna is to not give up on your dreams. Whether you dream to fly or dream to sing on a stage or dream to be a lawyer, whatever it is don’t give up on your dreams. Dreams can come true.

I chose this particular song to share because back in 1991 I chose Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” as the theme to our yearbook and it was chosen and is definitely Simply the Best. But I’m a bit biased since I was Head Photographer, Photo Editor, Index Editor and wrote several stories.