Three Important Things to Remember about "Coming Out"!!

[Charleigh Dakota]

For those that lost friends and/or family when you "came out"

 

Always Remember...

 

1. "Family is not defined by blood"

2. "You cant lose what you never had"

3. "While you lost nothing...they lost everything!!"

 

 

 

Keep Being Awesome!!

 

Charlie ❤️

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Very true.  Especially the aspect of "you can't lost what you never had."  The truth about hard times, medical problems, faith problems, and issues of identity is that you always find out who your REAL friends and family are.  The people who stick by your side are worth more than gold.  The ones who bail on you were never worth anything, and you're better off without them. 

 

My blood family (except my sister) never wanted me, and never accepted me even before issues came up.  Looking back, its no surprise I was rejected.  Now that I've found my forever family, its clear that I've been given a place where I belong. 

[Charleigh Dakota]

1 hour ago, Hannah Renee said:

My best friend for the last 35 years lives 1000 miles away, and we are sisters by heart. My two best friends right here, who I've known for less than a year, are also - the 3 of us - sisters by heart. FAMILY 

❤️ 

[Charleigh Dakota]

53 minutes ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

My blood family (except my sister) never wanted me, and never accepted me even before issues came up.  Looking back, its no surprise I was rejected.  Now that I've found my forever family, its clear that I've been given a place where I belong. 

I can so relate to this....I have always been the "black sheep" and "ugly duckling" in my family....so I never really considered them FAMILY....I just referred to them as relatives. This included my mother...though, she did take my transgender identity better than expected so we are working on that now. I have a bag I carry that says "Chosen Family is Love"....and I carry it everywhere!! Of course, I have also always lived by the rule of "if you dont come see me while I am alive....dont bother coming to see me when I am dead!".....some of my family didnt like it when I told them that.. but idc...sometimes, the truth hurts...but other times, like when each of us embraced our own individual truths, it can be breathtakingly beautiful too!! 

[Charleigh Dakota]

Just now, Charlie Dakota said:

Now that I've found my forever family, its clear that I've been given a place where I belong.

Yes...we are all family here and you are always welcome in "my" family....and in my life! **Much Love**

[awkward-yet-sweet]

21 minutes ago, Charlie Dakota said:

Of course, I have also always lived by the rule of "if you dont come see me while I am alive....dont bother coming to see me when I am dead!"

 

Good rule.  I really found out how little my blood family cared when they didn't come to see me or say anything when I was almost dead.  Beaten half to death and in the hospital...and I know my father would have heard because he's a former police chief of that city and my older brother is with the same department.  Word always travels, especially in that kind of community.  Not even my mother asked anything about me, and even though I knew she was pretty cold I was a bit surprised.  Good riddance. 

 

In my forever family - my husband and GF carried me around for weeks last year when I had a broken ankle.  I could have used crutches or a wheelchair, but they (and I) preferred to pick me up.  For me, the difference between chosen family and birth family was pretty clear.