“It’s honestly really surprising to me that I’ve made it this far, because looking back, I never thought I would be alive at this point in my life. It seems that every time I come to terms with one of my demons, another one pops up. One abusive friendship to another. Depression, anxiety, self-harm, planning my suicide. An eating disorder that still isn’t entirely gone. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Coming home to a homophobic, transphobic family that pretends my mental illnesses don’t exist. I guess I’ve been through a lot. Things have gotten better than they were. I’ve been clean for a while. I can get in cars without having a breakdown. I’ve accepted my sexuality. Sometimes I get urges though, to go back to the bad things. Sometimes I wish I’d gone through with it. Overall I think I’m glad I’m alive. I just don’t want to be barely hanging on for the rest of my life. I want to be able to live with myself, without hatred, and know that I made it. Odds be damned, for whatever reason, I’m here and it looks like I’m staying for a while.”