When I was 18, I had sex with a 14 year old.

When I was 18, I had sex with a 14 year old. I was put on the sex offender registry when I was 19 and remained on there until I was 25. I got kicked out of college, I lost all my friends, and I was even kicked out of my parent's house for a while. I had no place to sleep so I slept in my car and then eventually rented a crappy room from some meth-head who also happened to be a sex offender. I wanted to kill myself so many damn times but something inside me prevented me from doing it. I'm 35 now and I'm doing okay. I still have my trusty chemistry degree and I have a wife and two wonderful, beautiful children. I built a loving home for myself and my family. When I was 18, I couldn't imagine that the universe had anything in store for me. I could only see the road ahead of me as a dark void. <br><br><br>It took a lot of fucking work to get to where I'm at today but here I am. I get to spend my days with the people I love most in this world and I have a life I couldn't be more proud of. The fact that I'm a convicted sex offender doesn't define me. I am not a sex offender.<br><br><br>I am not letting my past define me and I did whatever the fuck I had to do to get to where I am today. <br><br><br>If you're feeling suicidal or depressed, please don't give up on your life. I know what it feels like to feel like life has nothing left to offer. It feels like nothing can ever get better. I know what it feels like to be alone in your car at night, crying your eyes out and praying to whatever god will listen to you that you just fucking die in your sleep and not wake up the next morning. I know what it feels like to lose all your friends and lose the people you love the most. <br><br><br>But even if the road ahead of you looks dark, please keep pushing forward. <br><br><br>Better days are ahead of you whether you believe it or not. There is a wonderful life ahead of you that you can't see yet, but if you keep pushing forward and never give up, you will get through whatever hardship is currently happening to you and you will come out the other side. <br><br><br>I know it seems impossible right now but when you come out the other side, you will be a stronger, wiser, and better person because of it. And you will feel an overwhelming sense of pride that you got through the hardship. <br><br><br>Never give up.