These are my corporate photos – 2006 (in the closet) vs. 2018. In my book I paint a simple picture, the guy on the left is a loser and ugly and a wimp while the guy on the right is super cool and handsome and funny. Of course the guy on the right is the real me, LOL.
I have one regret with my book – I didn’t fully appreciate and commend the guy on the left for his courage and determination to help create the guy on the right. I’d like to correct that – here’s my thank you note / love letter to the December 2012 version of Peter:
“Hey buddy, it’s future you. I have so many crazy-fun-interesting stories to tell you but I must start with the basics: I know that you are wicked scared about the change you’re contemplating – you don’t know if you have the strength to leave your wife and come out the closet and actually admit that you’re gay. In less than three months you take your first step on your authentic journey to happiness and I’m happy to say that it works out in the end. It’s not a smooth transition and you do lose some friends and loved ones along the way, but you make an amazing and inspirational transformation. And believe it or not, you literally write and publish a book about that. How about that, Mister C+ English student in high school! 😊
From the bottom of my heart, I must thank you for your courage and your willingness to start over, not knowing what the future would hold. You had the strength inside of you all the time and you didn’t know it. You have a heart that’s ready to love another man but you don’t know it. And most importantly, you will eventually not hate yourself and forgive yourself for being gay. You’re not a deviant and there’s nothing wrong with you. You just went down a wrong path (a long one!) but your upcoming decision will get us back on track.
You did it – you are a complete man now. You are no longer afraid. You don’t wallow in self-doubt. You don’t struggle with money and budgeting. You wake up and go to bed happy – you don’t have to act that way, you just are.”
Peter Leahy
A self-proclaimed “ideas guy,” I’ve worked in marketing for over twenty-five years. After years of sadness, emptiness and self-loathing, I finally came out of the closet in 2013 and reinvented myself. Now happily married to my husband for over two years, we live in California with our Chihuahua Felicia, the queen of our household.
