Put Good In - Get Good Out

Second chances, they are what life is all about. My life pretty much started out as a second chance. I survived spinal (bacterial) meningitis when I was younger - which was quite a feat given I was in a coma, lived in a "bubble" where I couldn't have any human contact other than some plastic arms that my family and doctors could use to touch me, and that in the early 80s, there wasn't much knowledge about what I had, therefore most cases were fatal. But hey - I made it - and only a few minor after-effects even remind me that I went through it. I've made my share of mistakes, some more than once, and I've been able (sometimes painfully so) to pick up and move on. I've experienced life's ups and downs - from thinking that things couldn't be better, to having my stomach pumped, because I thought things couldn't get any worse. My mother was killed in a car accident a few weeks shy of my 14th birthday, and that whole ordeal caused my 4 younger siblings and I to get separated (who could take all 5 kids ranging from 3 - 14?) - and you know, I think it's okay to be pissed off at the world sometimes about it. I remember back to the time it happened - laying in bed, crying until there were no tears left to cry, hearing my siblings cry, seeing the looks on their faces when we saw our mother laying in the casket for the last time before they closed it - and knowing there isn't a thing I can do about it - we weren't given a choice - and I think I am owed the right to feel that we were robbed and that sometimes life should give us a little something special because of what life took away from us. These experiences really have defined the person that I am, and, who I am still discovering, will be. I was listening to a cd the other day, and a line from one of the songs said "Take Me For Who I Am" - and, I must have been in a mood - because I started to really think about it - who I am....who I am is someone who is intelligent, who strives for the greater good in life, who tries to treat others as I want to be treated, who is sarcastic, spontaneous, who is mature but thinks it's okay to act stupid sometimes to lighten the mood, who is generous yet can also be selfish, who is outgoing, who can get on your last nerve but be your best friend at the same time, who can be moody and careless, who can be responsible, who loves adventure but who also can get scared by the noises in the night, who is allowed to have a bad day and doesn't always have to smile, who is a grandma's boy yet can have a heart of stone to get through difficult times, who appreciates hanging out and having a good time yet who needs ME time, who adores his cat Keenan, who would do anything for his family, who needs his friendships and who, when he wakes randomly at 2 am, as vulnerable as he can be, wants really only two things out of life - to love and to find that love in return. Nothing more, nothing less.