May 6 will be the third anniversary of Michelle Knight’s release from captivity. That will make her 35 years old. Michelle is neither bitter nor bent on revenge. Her kidnapper is dead.

Her goal is to help others who have suffered in similar circumstances to her own. She travels the world to speak and to comfort families who have lost or have deceased children. This purpose became clear after her release.

Michelle has never had an easy life. Poverty coloured her early years, as did abuse at the hands of a male relative who she has not named. By the age of 17, she was a single mom of a son she names Joey. A son who is growing up with an adoptive family. They don’t wish Michelle to have contact with him but have given her photos of him. She holds within her heart the desire to someday hold him again. Sometimes miracles happen. The fact that Michelle is alive is one of them. Had she not been discovered and released when she was, she would have died. He weight had plummeted from 130 to 84 pounds. She was suffering from a bacterial infection of the stomach lining.

Had fate or God not intervened when her captor kidnapped two other young women, she would not be among the living. Ariel Castro, the man who held her captive and abused her for 11 years was not satisfied with just one victim. He added two more to his prisoners before Michelle’s release came.

Michelle has been featured on the Dr. Phil show, however she is not a victim. She realizes what a precious gift life is and intends to live it to the fullest. At this point, she refuses to have contact with her mother. This may be an indication of how rough her early life was. She doesn’t know where her father is. She has contacted one or both of her brothers who are twins.

She is not drowning in self pity or filled with a cancerous bitterness She is truly an unusual young woman. She was chained to a wall in a house in an American city. Most of us can’t take this in but it’s true. It is such a bizarre story it almost feels surreal.

Her captor was a psychopath. He was tried and given a life sentence of one thousand years for his crimes He then died at his own hand. His statement in court was this, “I am not a monster. I am sick.”

Everyone failed Michelle yet she held on to life, surviving when others would have despaired. Tragedy eclipses many lives but not that of Michelle Knight. She was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and it cost her eleven years of her life.