• girltwink@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I was born into an impoverished extremist right wing family. I enlisted in the military back when DADT was a thing. I was disowned as an LGBT teenager, and medboarded out of the military after being committed to inpatient facilities multiple times. After that, i was homeless for a couple years, living out of a car and then a backpack.

    I finally ended up in this little town in Georgia, got a job at a little retail store, and moved into a trailer with one of my coworkers. Her friends kind of adopted me and i felt accepted for the first time in my life. We were all broke kids, but i told them i was going to be a millionaire by age 30. I was still pretty emotionally unstable and eventually moved on from that friend group, but it gave me the hope i needed to rebuild my life.

    I slowly built a career for myself after that, working 70-80 hours a week for a couple years, until i had my foot in the door. It got a lot easier after that. I didn’t quite hit my goal by age 30, but I’m close. I founded my first company at age 28, and raised a 10 million series A. My company is now worth 60 million on paper, but of course that’s meaningless until we IPO. But it’s profitable, and in the meantime, I’ve adopted a little family of people like me, and built a comfortable life for us. Life is good, and I’m content.

      • girltwink@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        No, they refuse to speak to me to this day. My gf’s family called her to wish her a happy birthday last week, and i cried quietly wishing mine did that too.

        • JSeldon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          (Very?) Belated happy birthday! Your family are the people you’ve chosen to accompany you at this stage in your life, the other one, the one you simply happened to be born into, don’t deserve you. Lots of hugs!

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Where I started

    Where I started

    Where I ended up

    Where I ended up

    Image descriptions

    1st image: - A heavy set person who appears to be a man, in baggy jeans and a t-shirt, leaning against a wooden handrail, holding a laser skirmish gun

    2nd image: A curly haired woman in makeup, wearing a teal coloured dress

    • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I feel like I need to do more than just post a picture. In this case, the picture really does tell the story in a lot of ways, but still, there was a lot of pain and trauma that led me to this point.

      I started off depressed and angry, lost in life, knowing what I needed to do, but feeling like it wasn’t something I could do. And when I finally accepted that I could do it, years went in to it. A quick photo makes it look like a magical transformation, but there was close to 10 years between those photos, and a lot of self discovery, self exploration and pain. As well as joy, and surprises.

      • AzuleBlade@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Hey, I just want to say thanks for posting this. I’m just a random internet stranger, but I’m happy for you. I think Fred Rogers sums it up best, he is the epitome of kindness to me.

        It’s you I like,

        It’s not the things you wear,

        It’s not the way you do your hair

        But it’s you I like

        The way you are right now,

        The way down deep inside you

        Not the things that hide you,

        Not your toys

        They’re just beside you.

        But it’s you I like

        Every part of you.

        Your skin, your eyes, your feelings

        Whether old or new.

        I hope that you’ll remember

        Even when you’re feeling blue

        That it’s you I like,

        It’s you yourself

        It’s you.

        It’s you I like.