What Do You See?

When you look at me, what do you see?

 

A person who had an idyllic childhood? 

Can you tell whether or not I attended college?  What do you think I would have studied?

Do you know that I was a certified optician?

Do you know that I lost my father when he was 49?

Do you see my Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

Can you see that I had the tips of my cervix cauterized in 2001 for pre-cancerous cells?

Do you see a lesbian because my hair is short?  Or because I am usually in the company of my spouse, Chris?

Do you see someone spiritual?  Can you tell my religion??

Do you know that I have been with Chris for over two decades?

Can you tell my age?

Do you know how many siblings I have?

If I have any children?

Am I a good-hearted person?

Can you see if I am a trusted friend?

Do you know if I have any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender friends?

 

I am 42 years young.  I do have a college degree, but attending college was not my first choice.  I had dreamed of moving to California to study hair & makeup and work in movies!  My major was Criminal Justice.  I have been an optician, a probation officer, an administrative assistant, a retail employee and an intelligence analyst, among others.  I grew up in a home where there was often physical and verbal abuse.  My father died of colorectal cancer at the young age of 49 and I do my best everyday to be healthy and not fall prey to that most horrible of diseases.  I am Pagan, not Christian (much to my mother-in-law’s chagrin and not for her lack of trying!) … I am also a good-hearted person and trusted friend.  I believe my actions are indicative of who I am authentically, more than my words.  I was a bit promiscuous in high school (lookin' for love in all the wrong places, as it were!!), which most likely led to me getting HPV and then precancerous cells on my cervix.  I met the cutest guy in 1989 and instantly fell in love.  We have changed our hairstyles, our weight, our places of residence quite a few times over the 25 years we have been together.  We now share some dresses.  I am not a lesbian, neither is Chris.  (Figure it out…get educated…be informed.)  I have many LGBT friends and I LOVE them!  We have attended 3 Pride parades (Key West, Chicago and Denver) and simply cannot wait for Denver’s this June!  I love to watch drag shows and roller derby!  I live in Colorado, but I don’t ski or snowboard or snowmobile.  I have 8 tattoos and counting!  I have 3 younger siblings, who have been raised by our mother.  While I do not have any children of my own, I have many nieces, nephews and great-nephews whom I love dearly.

 

I could go on and on, as many of you could!  Unless you KNOW, really and truly KNOW, a person, the things on the surface are not all they seem.  To discriminate based on what you THINK you know about a person at first glance is intolerable … and shameful.