Interesting perspective. I'm not sure how I wound up here -- reading this. I'm WAY too tired to be awake ATM & I've been wandering -- but here I am.

If I were asked these questions: ---> "What life lesson did you learn the hard way?", my answer would be, "Don't give yourself away to people who don't value you." That's been a theme throughout my life -- & I'm still working on it. Closely related would be this one: "Not everyone wishes you well -- & they mean it." Neither one was easy. Still isn't.

As for my family -- my mother was an only child; my father was a youngest child (of four.) I can't think of many worse combinations when it comes to knowing what to expect of a baby. I don't know what they were expecting when they had me (on purpose -- their first child) but it sure wasn't me. They were real clear about that through all the years we spent together. So ... put me in this category ---> "non-adopted people that hated their home life and do not talk to anyone in their family." I used to have nightmares about it.