For a long time, I would keep quiet about the tragic parts of my life.  If someone asked me to tell them about my family, for example, I would simply say that I had two older brothers and a loving mother and father, because that’s what most people want to hear, right?  It’s the more “socially acceptable” thing to say.  What I would dare not tell them is that I’m not at all close with my brothers. In fact, neither of them keep in touch and, frankly, I might as well be the only child.  Now, if I were to have shared that truth with them, they would instantly become uneasy, not because my story is uncommon, but because most people don’t have the guts to admit the ugly truth about their lives with an accepting smile.  But, my life motto now is this:

It…