Reply #53: Wow - what a GREAT post! [View All]

[calimary]

I am sorry for the inner agony you suffered all those years. I'm glad things are going so much better and smoother for you now!

A few of my longtime friends from way back in high school came out, one by one. What strikes me about each of them is how much happier and content on a deep inner level they are, since they did so. What unbearable loads on their shoulders and their hearts finally got lifted. How much freer, and less burdened they appear. Each of them has settled into a long, sustaining monogamous relationship. One couple adopted a little girl from South America. Another went through in vitro, became pregnant with twins, and now has a very happy, busy, noisy family. Another couple has weathered some of the most annoying storms brought about mainly by work situations and hours - they're still childless. But the point is - they're HAPPY! When they go home at night, they are no longer lonely and isolated and depressed. In some cases, the family took a long time to understand and be supportive, and finally to live and let live. It makes me wonder how they coped, suffering in silence, confusion, fear, and trepidation, worrying that someone they cared about deeply would no longer love them because of who they really were.

Thank you for sharing your story and your journey. You will have inspired, and strengthened, more than a few people with it.

:toast: