Beyond

I'm frustrated, fed up, and finally giving up. We don't get to choose our family. I think that's what makes friends so special. We choose them. They choose us. But family? Ah hell, we're just stuck with them. Sometimes that's good. And sometimes? Well...yeah.

And I don't really know what to say tonight other than this: I have a good heart, a good life, and a good man. I feel a joy that I can't even explain when I think about the life I have actively participated in creating.

So here it is: you may not agree with the decisions I make but you have to respect my right to make them. And you need to really see me for who I am. To the family members who know nothing about my life and base their opinions on hearsay and flimsy details, come to me. Talk to me. And, consider the source of your information. Everything comes through someone's filter.

I am a strong, intelligent, resilient, loving, optimistic, joyous person with more to give then you'll ever know. Do not underestimate me.

My life is mine. And it's better than I ever imagined. I have forged friendships that reach out like a lighthouse in the darkest night. And I know the love of a man who would lay down his life for me. But what's more, he'll take pictures of castles and we'll pretend their ours. He'll hold my hand in the grocery store line. And he'll support me no matter what, because he knows me and believes in me. And that? That is love.

So get off my ass. Fix your own life before you try to tell me what you think is wrong with mine.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.