Transitioning. Turned me from an empty husk of a person suffering from depression with a nothing life who was just going through the motions into someone happy, with a million hobbies and endless thirst for life.

Even when I understood what GD was and how it was affecting me, I never expected just how much there would be to me once that dark cloud has been lifted, especially how much changed once I started passing well enough I’d be gendered correctly all the time. It was rough to DIY hormones as a teen, but 10 years later, I feel truly blessed.

Getting therapy.

Get therapy everyone. Seriously.

Being adopted.

Going through a breakup after a 7 year relationship in my early 30s which turned my life upside down (but ultimately led me to where I am now).

Right after I became homeless, went in and out of the hospital, went through a dark period as an active drug abuser and addict, walked out on an established, high paying profession and career, moved 1200 miles away from a city I loved, gave up on humanity and myself…etc.

But ultimately I see now that as hard as that period was, it got me to where I am today, and I would do it all over again to be where I am now: married to my best friend, father to the brightest, most joyful baby in the whole world, hitting my stride as a trusted advisor and recognized leader in an entirely different career field, living in a place I adore, in my own house that im fortunate enough to be able to afford all by myself, making art, music, and delicious food every single day, and most of all having faith in myself as an individual for the first time ever.

That experience, as dark as it was, taught me that not only can I survive anything that doesn’t actually kill me physically, but I can thrive in any environment and circumstance if I so choose.

Probably getting a Gameboy Color as a gift from my mom as a young child, and then one more time when my mom let me play games on her (not made for gaming) home computer while she was at work. It started me down a lifelong path of loving games, and my initial leaning towards handheld systems and then straight into PC gaming gave me a lot more flexibility with the sorts of games I enjoyed and found entertaining, alongside all of the things that the internet showed me as I explored it.

The 2 suicidal periods in my life.

I just realized last night I slept soundly knowing my kids were old enough to handle any emergency and wake me from a deep sleep if they needed me. I feel I just experienced a real milestone in my life.