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I guess you guys have probably already read this more than once, but I imagine it must be something new for Mr. Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick Fil A..

Dear Mr. Cathy

I am compelled to write to you today to express my condolences on the passing of Chick Fil A's PR representative Don Perry. I did not know him, but by all the accounts I have read he is a man who loved everybody. I don't know if he had a pre-existing medical condition but I have to think that he might have also died of a broken heart as well. I am truly sorry if another good man's life was cut short by angry voices.

I am pleased that your business is successful, I am glad that you give your employees time off to spend time with their families and time to worship. I am also glad that you hold events in your business to promote strong families. I believe these things are important.

I know you are a busy man, but I need to tell you a story. I don't ever expect to hear from you, but I hope that you will at least consider what I have to say.

I was a white boy growing up in a rural area, grew up in a divorced household, the male role models in my life were not very good examples, they suffered with alcohol abuse, they were physically violent to my mother. I grew up in a house full of hate and intolerance. All I knew with my young mind was that if drinking and abusing women was what it meant to "be a man" then I wanted to be as far away from "being a man" as possible. I saw them struggle with demons so much and they were so unhappy..

Growing up I knew I was different anyway, I was never very good at aggressive, competitive things like tackle football that most most guys bonded over when they were being part of the team. I still wanted to be loved and just accepted by men so much that started to question whether or not I was gay.

All of the adults I looked up to as role models in my life made sure I knew how they felt about gay people, about black people, well - about anyone who was different than they were. I was scared, I hid my feelings - my parents were really the only people I had to rely on in the world being that young. If they didn't love me I had no one else to turn.

Believing I WAS gay I actually used to beg God, "Why did you make me this way?!" The response I got varied from silence to "I had to so you would understand" to simply "I'm sorry". I was ashamed, I was lonely, I was suicidal. As much as I thought I wanted to love a man, MAN certainly didn't love me back - they took what they wanted, including sexual favors from a young boy who was 8 years old as if the feelings I had weren't already confusing and humiliating enough. If I would've believed any of them I was a worthless abomination that didn't deserve to exist.

I just wanted you to know that divine love from God is the ONLY reason I am still here on this Earth. HE loved ME when I felt I had no where else to turn to, he gave me the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE I so desperately wanted growing up.

I now know that when I was growing up God gave me a very painful, but very powerful gift. He forced me to learn to think with an open mind. He forced me to learn how to have empathy and compassion for other people who don't think like me. If I didn't have to question my sexuality growing up I might've thought much the same way that you do, "Why do these people deserve ANYTHING?" I now know what it feels like to be on the outside of what others consider to be "normal".

Do you honestly think that someone would risk their life, family, job, friends, reputation, children and property to CHOOSE to be gay? They don't - but they can't turn those feelings on and off like a light switch. Have you ever tried to tell someone not to fall in love? It would be like me saying to you, "We love you very much, we want you to be a part of this community but you must divorce your wife." People don't ask to be born female, they don't ask to be born black and they don't ask to be born gay or lesbian..they just are.

Everyone sins, I'm not talking about decadence, I'm talking about millions of young teens who are just as worthy as any other part of creation feeling they have no where else to turn because people they admire tell them they are worth nothing.

I love God and I think he knows just how much I have struggled to become a loving, compassionate, well rounded adult. We are all the body of Christ, I have learned to love people for who they are on the inside, the content of their character, rather than how tall they are, their skin color or what is between their legs. That love is primarily a compassionate love, lust doesn't enter into the equation. Maybe some day I will find one special person to commit to but I'm just not sure yet.

Gay people aren't trying to destroy anything, they just want to be accepted for who we are, children of God the same as you or anyone else that is a part of this creation. The most enduring quality of Jesus' ministry was his love, mercy and compassion for others. I don't know if what they say is true, but if it is please don't use the resources of your company to punish people anymore.

I send this message to you in the spirit of love, in the hope that you will see what God has worked in my life. For better or worse I will never be the same person I once was, but I am stronger for it. It was incredibly painful but I don't think I would trade it away if I could. This world is hurting and so many people need love.

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeLDsBPSzYg[/URL]

There is a young lady I have read about in the local paper who apparently buys a meal and sits in the local Chick Fil A here - they say she doesn't really bother anybody but I think she is hoping that some day God's love will be shared by all people.

Yours in faith

....that the dead get treated with more respect than the living?

I'm 26 from mt pleasant. Have had 1 bi experience and loved it. But I want so much more. But I can't tell if a guy is bi. Straight curious and it kills me

The experiences of this lady seem to have created a powerful gift.

[video=youtube;llNlV1KDVUE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llNlV1KDVUE[/video]

Woke up to a nice 10 pound water weight loss and jeans fit.. jeans not elastic waist but actual button and zip the fly jeans. Celebrated by doing laundry and actually walked down the stairs instead of taking elevator to put them clothes from washer to dryer.

Breathing is still doing well and hopefully as I am able to be more active I can deal with the other issues going on with the meds and side effects.

Hugs y'all and goes off to suck another mint before I want a cig to celebrate!!!

[QUOTE=DuckiesDarling;191846]Once upon a time there was a straight woman, to all appearances happy with her life. Then along came a man who connected to her like no other. Showing her that there is a lot more to this world than what she had settled for up til now. Gave her the courage when she finally ended a marriage full of infidelity and let her know that no matter what happens she would never walk alone.

A few weeks after the divorce announcement the friend turned into lover and the straight woman grew wings and flew higher than she'd ever flown before. Phone calls and msn convos could not prepare her for the thrill of being in his arms for real. Not even the thought of a 30 hour plane trip and another four on a bus could deter her from making the trip though. Once there in NZ she made a phone call. Letting him know she was in the country and they both breathed a sigh of a relief. Anything could have happened, the plane could have been delayed, she could have been turned back at customs for some reason or other. Finally this strong pull would be shown for what it was. Was it just fantasy or was it real. Could love really have grown that strong over the distance. Nervously, she got off the bus and looked around. There he was, in the shadows of the building. She ran to him and they hugged and kissed for the first time, his first comment "You are real".

Three months of finding out about each other and what we could do to and for each other were awesome but not as awesome as they could have been if we had been braver with each other.

Now three years later from the first greeting in a chat room they are on the verge of discovering more than they ever dreamed of.

Through a third party with nothing to gain we found what was missing. The little things. I had fears, he had fears, I had dreams, he had dreams, but they were kept locked inside, safe from dissection.

In bringing these things to light we have both discovered things about ourselves and look forward to growing stronger as a couple.

It's his bisexuality he hates. Both of us have hurts and we are healing each other as we go along.

I wrote him something a while back that he found when he was doing a cleanup on his computer.

[I]This day I am honored to become your anam cara
I am proud to be the one who can say “welcome home”
Parts of me were dead before I met you that I didn’t know existed
You bring me to life and sort emotions long twisted
I wish I was a poet to tell the world of our deep love
To explain what we have found and grasped
To turn a phrase that makes everyone understand
But I am just a simple woman who loves
Just look into my heart, love, and see
The ties that bind are deep and strong
And I pledge you my heart forever and beyond [/I]

All in all this straight woman is not sure she's purely straight anymore.[/QUOTE]

[video=youtube;w0sWIVR1hXw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0sWIVR1hXw[/video]

Pedal exercizer I bought on a lark appears to actually be helpful. So far I've had two days of waking up with at least five pounds lost now if I could just keep from putting it on when up and moving around :D

Been working this thing everytime I sit at the desk, so far I've been able to go for about 20 minutes at a time before my legs give out and I have to rest. Some more clothes fit today, too, so I can finally toss off the nightshirt and sweatpants and wear a real pair of pants.. granted still an elastic waist on them but hey, progress is progress.

I just wish these bruises would go away, I have one on my stomach from the inpatient stay 6-8 through 6-21 where they gave me a shot of blood thinner in my abdomen. last time I saw the doctor I complained about it and he told me some of them can stick around for six months... not what I wanted to hear.

So all in all I'm looking less like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and more like myself, back to having a waist and ankles not cankles most of the time.

The drugs seem to be starting to work better but I don't like the message from doc this morning... I'm going from 80mg of Lasix a day to 120mg to try and draw more fluid out as they don't dare raise the steroids anymore without me being back in hospital and that is not where I want to go.

So just another note to kinda record my journey back to as healthy a me as I can get. Still no smoking, still avoiding smokers for the most part where I can so I'm not craving as much. Still sucking on the mints to help the steroid hunger and eating much smaller amounts at a time more often.

Have you ever noticed how frustrating it can be cooking for one when you are trying to eat smaller portions? Even the packs of chicken come in like 5 or 6 oz portions and you are really only supposed to eat 3 oz at a time and I try to eat even less so I can deal with the raised blood sugar from the steroids. So I gave up and cook everything then start portioning it out and covering and storing in fridge. Then I just have to nuke it a few hours later :D

Don't get me started on the so called Healthy frozen dinners... they have more sodium and stuff than some of the other meals that don't claim to be healthy.

Reduced my salt intake, not that I did much in the beginning, but have to be so careful as sodium is in pretty much everything we eat and drink in some amount or other.

Reading labels can be scary but you need to read them or you will never understand exactly what it is you are putting into your body. On the bright side my last bit of blood work showed I'm actually managing to eat healthy despite the way I have to go about it. All the good stuff is good all the bad stuff was coming down and all the increases in other things are medicated :D