If your life were made into a movie TODAY, what would your story be? Not where you hope it will be in five or ten years, not coulda shoulda wouldas, but right this second. My condensed version would go a little like this:

ADORABLE, precocious tow-headed girl who loves to get into mischief, read her grandpa’s cards while he’s playing poker, makes cakes in her Easy Bake Oven and go to rummage sales with her grandmother every Saturday. The little girl leaves her mother’s family while still young and becomes a stellar student after moving to her father’s in Alabama. Her precociousness continues well into the teen years, where all she does is listen to music, fall in love with boys, talk on the phone, call into the radio to win contests, and play trumpet while also trying out for every auxiliary position in the band. Upon graduation, she leaves the nest for college and later meets a man whom she will marry. They live a simple, happy life for a while until she realizes she’s still got some growing to do and sheds her cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. Sadly, she and the man must part, but it is amicable and full of love. She then ventures away from home to Virginia where love waits for her. She makes friends everywhere she goes, but the friends she made in Alabama when married and the friends she meets in Virginia prove to be the most vital in her short life so far. They remain steadfast no matter what storms come and help her through may tough times. She returns home to Alabama to be near family when she meets a goofball who makes her laugh and holds her hand in public. She snatches him up and doesn’t let him go. That’s where her superficial story ends…..

What you don’t see are her struggles with abandonment, body image, eating disorders, self-esteem, and the need for attention.

What you also don’t physically see are the scars from battles she’s won. She is beautiful – inside and out – and wins the war with the enemy everyday. She is happy, generous, caring, simple, loving, nurturing, supportive, and has a laugh that could fill a cathedral (she’s loud, ya’all!).

No matter what you think of her (good or bad), she’s making it; she’s living life to the fullest and doing it her way. She’s not apologizing for the way she feels, and she’s shouting from the rooftops that SHE IS AWESOME. She’s also telling the world that YOU ARE AWESOME. She wants to hear your story. She wants to share your story. What is your story? Let’s shout it together!