This is not my story but someone really close to me that doesn’t share it enough and I’m so proud of them:
At 17 he was kicked out of his home for being gay (his parents were JWs and found out from his brother). He used to sleep on stoops in NYC when couch surfing friend weren’t available. The owners of a very famous comedy club in NYC (comedy cellar) took a chance on him and he became a great employee. This was the late 90s so he would rub shoulders with Seinfeld, rock, Sandler, steward and any other major 90s comedian you could think of. This has nothing to do with the story but just a crazy opportunity that saved his life. He finally had some money, got an apt and his life back.
A few years later he moved to SF with a very abusive boyfriend that tried to kill him multiple times, he called the cops one night, they showed up and saw it was two men, they said “ladies work this out.” He knew he was on his own.
He found another apt, signed a lease, packed his things grabbed the dogs and snuck out when his partner was working. The guy came around when he found out where his new place was but with the support of friends and time, he finally disappeared (the ex actually ended up in prison for trying to kill his next boyfriend).
Now back to the main story, My friend lived free from abusive now but a few years later was hit by a exchange student with no car insurance while rollerblading. He was really hurt, his arm almost got ripped off. He had a severe concussion. He couldn’t work, and since there was no insurance and if he sued he would get barely anything and ruin the drivers life, he just couldn’t bring himself to do that, so his savings were drained and his lights were turned off. He was a long road to recovery but he did it and came back and was able to work again. At this time he was a bartender.
Many years passed, and after a few failed relationships (most of which by him being cheated on), we met.
And after a lot of sacrifice and focus we built an empire together and he now doesn’t have to work another day in his life if he doesn’t want to. We also got married and have been together 13 years.
During all these ups and downs his only main goal was to never be homeless again because being that hungry and cold and scared was no longer an option in his mind.
And also through these ups and downs he has also always been a nice, generous, kind person, to help people and animals when he could when he had nothing. He deserves the entire world.
The reason I wanted to share this story was to show the ups and downs of life. That once you get over a hurdle more come but you keep going forward. His life hurdles may not be done but he knows he can handle it, and we can now handle them together.
So keep going.
I love u, LC.