I remember an exercise we had to do in English class in the 9th grade. We went around the room and had to answer, 'What is the greatest gift someone could give you?" A lot of the boys said stuff like particular type of car or a mansion. The girls answers varied from material items to having a loved one return from the dead. I remember my answer. It's still my answer. When it was my turn I said, "understanding". I got a few weird looks, a couple whispers and giggles, like I didn't understand the assignment. Our teacher just smiled, nodded and said, "good", like she did with each person before and after me.
But I did understand the assignment. In my life up to that point, I had felt so misunderstood, weird, different, out of place and odd, that all I ever dreamed of was that someone someday would "get" me and I wouldn't feel so alone.
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