rust-and-wishbones:

dear mom and dad,

i am not giving you the authority to make me hate myself. i walked that road for the vast majority of my life, and i’m not doing it anymore.

just because my lifestyle doesn’t match yours doesn’t mean i am any less worthy of respect or acceptance. i am not an extension of you, don’t expect me to be. do i make mistakes? absolutely. does that make me a bad person? absolutely not. it makes me human.  and last i checked, i’m an absolutely wonderful human.

so fuck you. fuck your judgement, your perfectionism, fuck your anger. fuck your closeminded and hyperconservative ideals. fuck you for shrugging off my problems. fuck your obsession with controlling and scrutinizing every aspect of my life. fuck every time you put me down for being different.  fuck every single time you have made me think i was someone worth despising.

for the record, i am not someone worth despising, at all. i have a big heart and open eyes. when my demons come haunting me, i fight them off with strength most people will never possess. see that smile? i wear it like jewelry, even on the roughest days.  i have helped far more people than i’ve hurt; i’ve saved people’s lives. my life is not small. i’m not perfect, but i am a good person, and i’m trying my best. surely this is enough.

it has taken me nearly 21 years to erase the damage you’ve done, and i’m not turning back. 

i am everything i was born to be. if you choose not to see that, well then, that’s a problem with you- not me.