Member-only story
We all have parents, at least biologically. We’ve loved and hated them. We’ve wondered if they’ll approve of us and if they’re proud of who we’ve become. For most of us queer, Asian female, or just outspoken kids, there have been some genuinely scary moments.
The relationships I have with mine are complicated, interesting, and unusually close. My parents have been very supportive of my career, moving around the world to help me succeed, educating me (I was homeschooled by my mother), and making huge financial sacrifices to get me through college and law school. My parents have done a lot of very good things, I see them every day, and we have a solid relationship.
But part of the reason we can have that today is because my self-worth is no longer tied up in what they think of me. And I think that’s a very important place for everyone to get to — whether they had parents who treated winning a local baseball game like the Nobel Prize or whether they treated the Nobel Prize like winning a local baseball game.
Today, I’m a 24-year-old attorney who has an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Department of Defense, have been married for 2.5 years, still play the piano, and most importantly helped start an org that helps thousands of…
