Post #42


 The Mitzi gets some couch time with the acne riddled Me.

I loved that sweater that I have on there.  Mom gave it to me one Christmas..  In fact, in all these youthful pictures, Mom bought me pretty well all my clothes, seeing as I was still in school and stuff.  It's not brown, right?  

I have mixed emotions looking at this.  It brings me back to a rather tortured time when I was dealing with such bad acne.  The names I was called, the stigma attached to it all, pretty much forcing me into exile at my own house, which is why you see all these pictures taken at home.  I couldn't get a date to save my life, much less get a girl to look at me at all.  

But times changed.  I remember my brother Peter used to tell me he had acne issues, too, so he related with what I dealt with, making me feel way less alone.  It sort of softened the blow of ridicule that I often felt in school, when I'd find out 'friends' were making fun of my 'pizza face' behind my back.  Today, I bear the scars of that acne on my face, but actually with pride.  Because I survived it.  I got past it and found out how to attract girls in spite of it all, and found some happiness and relief.  Like my brother Peter, I took Accutane, which pretty much leveled the acne, but left the scars behind.  No matter, it got the job done.  Still... there are questions about Accutane.  In some people, like myself, it can cause stomach issues (I did wind up with a bleeding ulcer) and mental health problems (well, duh).  I guess it didn't help that my brain had already gone through the blender in my earlier teens.  It's also suspected of causing changes in personality in some cases.  I think that's pretty bang on in my own.  Still, the pluses outweighed the minuses at the time, and I was desperate.

The bespectacled Mitzi showed love unconditionally, though.

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