Having your life rewritten into an unpleasant story is not easy to witness. Worse is watching it done by a system you held in high esteem.
I remember expressing my utter disbelief to a friend, Franklyn, who put things into perspective this way: 'They have done worse to Jesus. Who are you?'
That adjusted my expectations.
I am still disappointed by the actions of those who vowed to protect you and me from the kind of things I have experienced, but I also understand that people make bad choices and when the integrity of a system is put at risk because of those choices, it will do anything to protect itself, and it is.
So to answer the question my brother-in-Christ asked: I'm a man who despite the odds, loves his children, still smiles at the little, curious things in the world, a man who enjoys the creative side he once ignored. I am a man rooted in who I know I am but more importantly, rooted in the God he serves and no alternative narrative can change that.