With love, stand out

I was born to parents who valued me, and who taught me I would always stand out, be weird, be not the same as others, and that standing out is okay; it's normal and not to be feared. I'm a daughter of God. My mother modeled being humble enough to look closely at advice and differences, and discerning enough to detect motives of actually trying to help vs. trying to undermine. And she hugged me when I cried. My dad loved me and let me know I was important to him; he didn't say much but showed his love in doing things for me, fixing things, providing support, encouraging and sometimes course corrections. Most of the time they were both calm. They stood up for me with teachers, with other children, with other adults. And they were not afraid to tell me when I was wrong, but with love, not condemnation. Always with love.