Thank you, Mama, for loving me so passionately.

Thank you, Grandmama, for taking care of me and trying to shelter me.

Thank you, Sean, Rachel, and Melinda, for letting me love you and share your lives, for teaching me how much more important it is to love than to be loved, and for teaching me how to love myself.

Thank you, Hazel, for letting me be myself and talk for hours on end. Thank you for seeing me and for helping me see myself.

Thank you, Bruce, for encouraging me to be myself and valuing all the little things.

Thank you, Sandi, for being my eyes when I can't see myself.

Thank you, Sean, for showing me that a man can be a truly loving father. I can now actually imagine a loving, protective male god.