“I am what I am. If you can’t handle me, that’s your issue.” That stopped me short, for the pure beauty of his statement. For my entire life, I’d tried to shrink myself to fit in, to make others comfortable and happy and accepting of who I was. But Shadow was unapologetically himself, and if it was too much for me, then that was my issue. Years of blaming myself, when all along… The issue didn’t lie with me. The revelation was breathtaking. And painful. And the best gift Shadow had given me.
