Bondi Beach, Australia

We all gather on the beach and play football together, laughing and sliding in the sand. I mess up a tackle and fall, but instead of mocking, everyone comes over to check on me. They cheer when I get the ball away, and I the same. Cricket is another game where I fall and am tackled, but this time we all lie sprawled out in a heap and laugh together as one.

Only two months ago I would not have said that I have a lot of friends. For the first time in my life I feel like I am luckier than most people. I always wanted to be “normal” and tried to behave like everyone else for a large part of the time. The friends I have made here are not like me, we are all different and all have something to add to our time together. I can truly relax with these people and I do not have to be someone I am not. This is true friendship. I have never before had a large group of friends who call me up and invite me to anything just because they like me. In the past I was a jester for people I liked but felt inferior to. Seeing myself as accepted takes some getting used to and sometimes I still feel lower than others, but my friends are always there letting me recognize that we are equal.

Without this realization I might still be alone and depressed, looking for the next crazy stunt to amuse others. People here congratulate, advise, encourage and befriend me. Maybe it was me who stopped people getting close and I always could have had friends like these. What I know is that I am happier than I have ever been.