Much of my life, too much, was lived to please others. I forced myself into molds fashioned for me by society. I lost touch with what and who I really was. I lived a life of self-destruction, sometimes resulting in the destruction of other lives I touched. I paid a great price for having this illness. A person with a college education certainly should have some kind of confidence and credibility, but I earned nothing to talk about, and was part of the poor and disrespected. It was a difficult and painful place to be, one that was certainly not my intention, or because of any carelessness on my part; just a lot of unpleasant circumstances; a very humbling experience. But because of this, I discovered something very exciting about life. I realize that the object of living is not to live forever. We all eventually die. And also, that we can’t take it with us. We don’t take our money, clothes, labels, and prestige with us. But I’ve discovered something we do take with us. I believe that when we get beyond this life, we will be clothed in who we are in our hearts and our minds. I plan to be fully dressed; not nude, stripped, and foolish like those who focus on material things. The most important things in life are not things.

-Marcia Kyle Townsend (7/27/54-12/01/94)