My thoughts on Life, Family, Struggle and Friendship

I have learned so much about life, responsibility, family, friendship, tragedy, joy and struggle. It seems we all have to have some struggles in our life just to remind us that we are human. It is what defines us and gives us character. We all must rise to the occasion no matter how difficult the situation we are in may be. Life is a testing ground and we must try our absolute best to deal with all that comes our way. We also must realize that we are not alone and that we must always seek someone to talk to when we feel like things are a bit overwhelming. We do not have to feel ashamed to seek help in our life. We all must realize that it is much better to talk our feelings to someone we trust than to keep them bottled up inside of us. What good would that do for us? It is very unhealthy to feel we have to face our problems alone and to get so down that it affects every aspect of our life. We have to be strong in our mind and know that we are just as important as anyone else and we should never let our feelings of despair bring us to a bad place. We have to trust in ourselves and believe that we can do anything we set our mind to. Life is a beautiful thing and despite the struggles we may face we must realize this because we only have one life and when we realize our own mortality we have to know that each and every day we get to wake up and share with our family and our friends is a blessing that we should always be grateful for.

I have a son who is such a joy in my life but he can certainly have his moments where he can test my patience but I understand this knowing what he deals with every day. I am very patient with him because I love him and I want to let him know that I truly understand him even though I will never really know what he is going through. The same can be said for me as my son loves me too and he accepts me for who I am even if he can never truly understand what it is like to be transgender. He still is my son and I still am his dad and that will be forever. My wife is very good with helping our son get through those difficult moments and she dedicates her life to helping autistic children which I think is a wonderful thing and I am so very proud of her and her commitment to our son and to all the autistic children and adults she helps every day on her job.

I also realize how important it is to have really good friends in our life. If we had no one to talk to we would feel very sad and it would bring us into a depression that no one ever wants to go through. It is so very painful and the best medicine for that is a good friend to talk to just to listen and understand us. We all want to have a good friend we can relate to and bear our inner most secrets to. A friend like that is hard to find and when we do find such a friend we should be truly grateful because that is a very special thing.

Family is the most important connection we have to our identity, our feeling of being safe and our need to feel loved and respected. When we have a loving and supportive family we find we can thrive in our life and we should never feel we have to face our struggles alone. We must know that our family will help us through the low points and celebrate with us the high points. We must always treasure the memories of family and appreciate the life we have. We are all special in the eyes of God and no matter what our weaknesses and frailties are we must realize that God loves us and will always understand. We just have to believe this and have faith. God will help us through any difficulty if we truly believe.

I have many views of life and what it is like to have personal struggle. For the longest time I felt all alone in my life never ever thinking things would ever be resolved but as I am older now and addressing my feelings I now realize there are people who truly do care and are there to help and that means so much to me because I have struggled for so long and felt so alone. I don't feel alone anymore and that is a wonderful feeling. I am now finally taking proper action and I know in my heart I will be much happier and a much better parent to my son and will always be there for my wife. I am not perfect but who can truly say they are? I think life is a journey that we are all traveling in our own ways and we all have to figure it out. I also am truly grateful for my friends who stand by my side and who truly understand me. I know it is very special to know that people are there for you no matter what. I will always be there for my family and my friends too, no matter what. I am grateful for my family and for my life even if it is a bit different. That is what makes us unique. Thank God for uniqueness! Life is more interesting that way. For my son I pledge to do all I can to help encourage him and guide him because my life is my son.

Edward D. Iannielli III
emily