Opportunity

Rooney had been openly Lesbian most of her life. She’d gone against the grain while growing up in rural Florida. The comments she heard were on repeat. Others in the Church she was being raised in telling her they’d pray for her. That they loved her but not her decisions (being Lesbian) on a weekly basis. Her response was always the same. That there was nothing in the Bible that condemned her sexual orientation. It wasn’t anywhere in the Bible. They’d simply misinterpreted various scriptures. They had nothing to say in response to that. They left her be after a while. 

She’d left for St. Louis, to be closer to relatives that actually loved her, ten years later after an opportunity led her there. She’d traded the college fund her grandmother had paid into to go. Maggie, Rooney’s mother, had passed when she was a kid. A Brain Aneurysm had ended her life. Unexpectedly. It’d broken Rooney in ways nobody understood. Her death happened two years before she came out as Lesbian. She’d  come out to Maggie by that point. Maggie’s only response being that she loved her no less for loving women. She was still her daughter. Wyatt was different though. He didn’t seem too comfortable with it. He’d never been. Rooney had called him out more than once. It’d caused a strain in their dynamic. She never looked back after going through the necessary channels to get the money from her college fund and leaving for St. Louis. 

“I’d rather be who I am than what you people want me to be. You people would rather have your heads in the sand than love me for who I am. NOT ONCE have you done so. NOT ONCE have you bothered to reach out. You’ve let your actions speak for you. I’m doing the same” Rooney said as she stood up to leave
“Honey, we just-” Aunt Angela began
“DON’T you start with me. I’m not having it. You’re ALWAYS wanting to argue. I’m not having it. F is for Failure and ya’ll failed as family. You people are nothing more than relatives to me” Rooney said as she gathered her things and walked out

Rooney had sold everything she knew he’d never use or need. She’d moved to St. Louis with a suitcase, duffel bag and backpack. Rooney had done well in her job as a Marketer. She’d sent samples to Moore Magazine. Samples they loved so much that they’d hired her without any formal education. Education they’d paid for after she moved to St. Louis. She’d moved to their Miami location for a few years. She’d grown closer to her paternal grandmother during that time. It’d been another opportunity for her. She eventually moved back to St. Louis after her grandmother's death. An argument with her dad, other relatives, along with people she’d thought were friends, led her to have no contact with the majority of them. 

“I can’t imagine what you’ve been through” Julian sighed
“I’m surprised I’m still here. Life hasn’t been easy for me. I’ve feared for my life at times. It’s why I’m as outspoken as I am. It’s why I’m pushing back the way I am” Rooney responded
“I’m happy you’re doing that. I’d expect nothing else from you” Julian smiled
“Life will never be easy. It’s how you move through life that leaves a mark even when it doesn’t seem like it” Rooney smiled back

She’d been offered a column. A column that moved through her experiences in the small town she’d been raised in. Ideas swirled within her head. All of which she wrote down in a fever pitch. Ideas she wrote that shed light on the injustice, hatred, and bigotry others so gladly spoke to her. And so many others within the LGBTQ community that heard the same thing. Her column began doing well in ways she’d never imagined. She kept looking forward to her future while keeping her past in the past. She’d begun writing a Memoir about her life. The experiences she had. To give hope to others. That everything will be okay even when it doesn’t seem like it. She began considering a life as Public Speaker.