My guess is that many people are going through similar struggles of trying to undo damage.
What if I had listened? What if I had, at any point, listened to all the anti-gay hate? The truth is, I did listen and to this day I’m still trying to unlearn what they said. She responded, “If you really wanted to take your own life, you would have just drank Drano.” I told her I had taken a bunch of aspirin in an attempt to take my own life. I walked up to my mother, who was doing dishes in the kitchen. But that changed when they found out I might be different from other boys. I thought that if I kept up great grades and stayed out of trouble, I would have the support of my parents. During the tumultuous years of my early teens, I was in a state of panic. I don’t remember the exact circumstances that led to the event, but I will never, ever forget how I felt. “People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” Maya Angelou once said. (A warning: This story discusses self-harm and child abuse.) Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter.
