I was always a naturally happy kid. I had a tendency to want to believe in magic and everything made me curious. As I got a bit older, I noticed the way a few kids were treating me was different. There were two kids who gave a particularly hard time.

No one ever hit me. They mostly just called me names and made me feel ugly and unwanted. Everybody else ignored me, and to be honest I think that was even worse. If I said something, usually no one would look at me. If I told a joke, no one would hear me. I was too nice and polite to call them out on it, so I decided that I was probably just a freak.

When I moved from that particular school, I was myself again. I was as happy as a kid could be. I wanted to smile at everybody so that they would all know that I would listen to them if they needed to be heard. If you ask someone who knows me, I am one of the happiest people on earth. To be honest though, sometimes I still cry about it for hours.

All I really want anymore is for all kids to be themselves. All kids should feel safe and even proud to be the person they are. I actually think that majority of the world's problems would be improved if the kids all felt welcome. It is so important to me that every child I meet is free to be themselves. I hope it is important to you as well.