Two of Wanda and my finest friends are in this video. I have been a victim of bullying myself in various parts of my life. Once the bullying of a superior where I then worked was so bad that I questioned for at least a year what joy I had in life. There seemed to be very little. I looked at other workers, even workers doing much more labor intensive lesser paying jobs and wondered, "Why can't I just be like them?" Over time, it got better, much better. If I hadn't stuck around and persevered through this crises in my life, I would have never known the wonderful life I have today. At the time it seemed hopeless, but it was far from that. That time became one of the most important learning experiences in my life. Much of the enjoyment of the life I now lead is the result of my appreciation of what I now have as compared to what I didn't have before. It gets better, I promise. Things change, you guide your life forward to a better place and you appreciate it so much more when you get there.
My wife and I, living in the southern United States where intolerance towards gay people is much more profound, have never hidden our complete support of the right of everyone to be who they they want to be. We hope we have affected a few to realize that a new world stands before us. We support our beliefs in our politics and we support our beliefs through our conversations with coworkers, friends, and family. If you've listened to the stories about our cruises, you know. All of them involved our gay friends and all of them were life changing events. It's hard not to find inner change when you are with deeply loved friends.
Thank you Jonathan, Steven, Michael, and Danny for the whole new world we found in your friendship. Jonathan and Steven were there when I decided to ask Wanda to marry me. They shared our joy, the greatest joy I have ever known. They were there for our honeymoon cruise. They have been phenomenal friends and loving friends from the first time we met. Yes, life is good. If you don't feel that way now, realize that it does get better, and it will feel that way to you someday, if you let yourself reach that someday.
