On My Birthday.

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I was doing some school work and popped onto Facebook and saw this from a friend.

With this comment:

I would have added more decorations...but I ran out of room! Thanks for being such a good FB friend! I hope you enjoy your birthday, Erica!

This is from an online friend of mine and it made me smile.
I also got a FB birthday card from another friend. 

This is especially sweet because one of them is going through an especially difficult time right now and it's touching that this person would take time to do something for me considering the issues at hand, (no, I am not going to give further details, they know who they are and that’s what matters) 

Now, I can’t say what I want for my birthday because for the most part I’ve already gotten them.  In material gifts I have gotten a very nice set of real wood shelves and a new Samsung device for listening to my text books and other less productive things.

There is something far more precious that I’ve already gotten from not just my mom and dad, but also the countless friends online and in person.  It is the time, patience, respect, and love I receive every day.  When I was a young girl my mom figured out I couldn’t read.  My first grade teacher thought I wasn’t very smart, but my mom wouldn’t accept that.  She got me tested and I was diagnosed as dyslexic.  This led me to some very difficult times in my childhood, but I know what can happen to children who have learning disabilities and aren’t diagnosed.  I owe the chances I have had in my life to the time and respect they have given to my education. 

There were many times when I wanted to just give up.  I tried on a number of occasions, but they wouldn’t let me.  I can’t say I was all that thankful then, but now I know the work ethic I have, and the drive I have to do well comes from the fact that they never let me learn how to give up.  The time and energy both my mom and dad, but especially my mom have put into helping me do my school work is difficult to put into perspective. 

There is no way to overstate what that help has meant to me.  Weather it is reading an article that wasn’t available in a text format as my mom most recently did; writing up definitions for vocabulary so I can study off of it like she did during the summer; typing up Spanish vocabulary as my dad did the year before; or reading my homework off the computer because the publisher for the online homework didn't use readable text, they have been there for me every step of the way.  The school work may have been done by me, but the amount of work making the material usable for me has in many cases been equal to my own effort.  It isn’t an exaggeration to say going back to school wouldn’t be an option without it. 

But then there is that other detail to my life.  At this time there is a viral video of a young man’s coming out.  I haven’t watched the video because I know what it is.  I share it here because the family has tried to get the young man to remove it.  They made the choice to not only disown their own child for being gay, but they assaulted him in the process of disowning him.  They made a choice in how they would receive his coming out to them, and they should have to pay some consequence for their action.  The best I can do at this time is help expose the shame of their actions, so they can’t hide from it. 

Thank you BlackTsunami 

When I came out of the closet my parents accepted me without condition.  My sister accepted me without condition.  Her children accepted me without condition.  The idea of doing otherwise was unthinkable.  I have thought that on one hand they had some experience with dealing with differences in me.  After all they dealt with my learning disability as a child.   

They may not be the same, but in regards to how some families respond to them there are parallels.  To them, accepting a child who is coming out of the closet is just how things should be.  It is what all children deserve and need.  To do otherwise is unacceptable.  The contrast in my experience and that of DanielAshley Pierce are so dramatic that it points out exactly how wrong what he went through is.  I’m glad he has had the friend’s support he has, but it makes me angry to know his family has treated him as they have. 

I am grateful for the gifts I have been given of love, support, respect, and help.  They have meant far more than their actual doing.  The fact of the help has meant I can live, in many ways like anyone else.  I can enjoy the things others can in my own way, and I can enjoy knowing that the people who should be on my side are.  If there are any friends out there who have thought of giving a gift to me I would like them to consider making a donation to Daniel’s future at (http://www.gofundme.com/dnoqgg) or to donate at http://teacherally.learningally.org/ a resource that provides read books for people with disabilities that effect reading.  Because so many people in both accounts don’t have what I do.  I’d like to help them have as close to that as possible. 

Thank you to all of my family both related by blood and related by love.