This is me...

I am so excited to begin this journey of sharing stories, my journey, my ideas, and my passion with you in a brand new way.

Anyone that knows me knows that my passion is children and childhood. It is the only thing that has ever made me feel connected to myself and the world around me. Being around children and helping to create spaces for them that are not only safe and supportive, but magical as well is my life’s work. It is healing to me and my inner child. Helping to give something to children that I needed when I was a child-love, safety, security, someone to look up to. All of those are things that I really did not have when I was a child. Yes, my childhood was good overall but when I think back to the things that would have made it (and my journey of self-discovery) smoother, I realize there was a lot missing.

Growing up as a young gay boy not really understanding what it was that made me different, but knowing it was something, was difficult most of the time. I read something recently that said queer people did not have a chance to grow up ourselves because we had to spend so much time and energy pretending to be someone else. That really spoke to me. Growing up there was so much of myself that I felt like I had to hide. My femininity, my desire to play with dolls instead of a baseball, my love of all things flamboyant. I felt like I had to hide those parts of myself because the messages that I was getting from the adults around me-both at home and at school-was that whatever it was that made me different was bad. The word “gay” was used as a slur and a joke with most of the adults around me. It was used to describe something bad, or stupid, or a person that was not liked. So it was scary for me to begin to wonder about myself, “am I that person?”, “am I bad?”. If I had had someone around me that I could look to that I felt a connection with, that was like me, so that I could see that who I was was ok would have changed so much for me. To see a teacher being who they are and encouraging me to be who I was would have been life-changing.

So, that became my why.

That is why I felt called to work with children, and why I still do to this day. I want to be that person for another child-the person I needed to see and know. Everyday in all that I do, I strive to not only be that person, but to encourage others to be that person for the children they work with too.

If you decide to follow me here on this journey, you will read a lot about my why. You will read a lot about my passion for children. You will read a lot about how amazing and life-changing you can be. You may also read some funny stories from my life, and maybe even some of my dabbles into my fiction writing (I hope you like thrillers!). But above all, it will be meaningful and kind. Because that is all I want to offer to this world and to you: kindness.