“You told them?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They said… it’s abnormal. That I need to be ‘fixed’ else I would be a sinner. How can they think of me that way? I get it… I get that this is difficult for them to accept. I am… I am different. But I’m their son and they are my family, my world. They raised me… 25 years! There is no one who understands my pain better than them. So why can’t they stand by me, defend me even if it’s a facade they have to put on? They can tell those people – those goddamned people – to let me be; tell them to live with their truth and let me live with mine. But they have turned me away over and over again. Sometimes for people, sometimes for religion, sometimes for their own disappointment. They believe I broke their world. So, I’m here. Somewhere away from everyone. Falling apart.”
“Well, once you are done falling apart, rebuild yourself with your truth,” said the man as he took a swig of his whiskey and rose to leave. “The world walks over the fallen, denounces those who stand apart. Who do you want to be?”