My name means “crowned one” yet for most of my life I was unable to grasp that. I walked around in my younger years filled with the need to apologize for everything. The way I looked, the way I spoke, the way I felt and yes — I even apologized for just being born. No one really meant to make me feel bad and in fact, if not for a grandmother who loved and encouraged me, I’m not really sure what I would’ve become.

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