A common theme online today is the pressure to conform — the idea that we must all share the same beliefs, with differing opinions always met with others' views pushed as gospel. My ideal love does not have to be yours. Each of us is entitled to our own dreams of romance. I am free to seek out my own desires, and you are free to find the kind of relationship dynamic you deem perfect in your eyes. 

I’ll forever mourn the person I could have been if I hadn’t gone through what I did at such a young age. But, I also know I wouldn’t be the same person, with the same heart, the same compassion, the same understanding, and the same drive and motivation if I hadn’t.