And your heart's about to break;
Remember that you're perfect,
God makes no mistakes."
--Bon Jovi, "Welcome to Wherever You Are"
Happy spirit day, everyone! For those of you who don't know, spirit day is an annual day every year on October 19th where people wear purple to support the LGBTQ community! Although it was only officially started 2 years ago, it has been a great time to show off your pride and support. It was founded by a Canadian teenager named Brittany McMillan in her attempts to end LGBTQ bullying.
Spirit Day this year means a lot to me. Sure, I celebrated the last two years, as well, but this is the first year that I can officially say that I am celebrating it as "myself". It's been almost a year now since I came out to my family (the reality of it was that they basically knew all along and never wanted to approach me about it because they saw no need to). I had posted a status on Facebook before going home for winter break about wishing I could tell family certain things and being tired of crying myself to sleep at night. It was, sadly true. I felt so ashamed and upset and worried what my family was going to say or think if they found out. The reality was, they didn't even care. My mother actually ended up approaching me on Christmas morning when I went to help get some of the food prepared for our mid-afternoon dinner with my grandparents that were coming over. She told me that I didn't have to hide anything from them and that I didn't have to be afraid to tell them things. I still remember when she smiled at me, a little teary-eyed and said, "We already know. We've known for a long time."
Every day, I'm so grateful that I have such a loving and supportive family. They are always there for me no matter what and willing to listen to me and stand up for me when I need them. I know there are so many out there who are not as lucky as me, one of my best friends actually is in this situation-- where his parents are not at all supportive of who he is-- and it breaks my heart. We are all beautiful people, on the inside and out. I hope that one day, this discrimination over who one loves will end, and everyone will be able to live happily with those who they truly wish to be with.
Happy Spirit Day again, everyone! (Be sure to wear your purple today!)
