My Story
"...and she called me an ugly American."
My name is Jace, and this is my story.
I was born on August 16, 1974 to Nicholas and Patricia Vela, two wonderful people (for the most part) and six older brothers and sisters (Kathy, Larry, Stan, Vivien, Patty and Frank.) I had an average childhood -- well, what I would consider average. I spent an awful lot of time thinking of death and gore, but I talk about that on another page.
I was a pretty quick learner. I learned how to read earlier than most of my classmates, speak quite a bit of spanish and a lot of music basics by the time I entered kindergarten. When I was five, my prodigiousness having been discovered, I was enrolled in the exclusive Willis Independent School District where I attended grades K-12. I made some wonderful friends in Willis, and, in fact, still retain some. One of them would have to be one of my three best friends, Vanessa Chick (yes, that's her real name.) She and I have shared ups and downs, triumphs and sadness, and, through it all, have remained best of friends and stuck by each other (and to each other in an ugly incident involving Elmer's glue, but we won't go into that.) No matter what may happen to us in the future, I will always consider her my best friend -- after all, we've been together for over 20 years, and that's not going to change any time soon.
Well, almost three months after graduation (May 29, 1992), I left Vanessa and the entire town of Willis behind to attend college at Luther College in Decorah Iowa. It was there that I met my second best friend; someone whom I almost consider a soulmate. Her name is Heather Way, and she is beautiful and wonderful and one of the best friends a person could have. She is another person who has stuck by me (although not to me) through thick and thin and I love her dearly. Our meeting was pre-determined. It had to be. We ran into each other several times before we actually spoke to each other in the laundry room of my dorm, of which she couldn't find her way out. I instantly fell in love with her optimism, comforting voice and deep blue eyes.
Luther wasn't a great experience for me. It wasn't because of the students or the classes or the professors or the food in the cafeteria (although those would each qualify), but rather because I realized many things about my life that I wasn't exactly thrilled about. You see, as a child, I was taught to hate (or at least dislike) many things - from gays to abortion to liberalism - and when I realized that I was in fact gay, I spiraled deeper and deeper into depression and came very close to killing myself soon after. In fact, this was the reason I decided (well, was forced) to leave Luther. I returned to Texas a lonely, selfish man.
I spent the next four years of my life in a very deep depression and in various stages of acceptance of my sexuality and at various jobs. I started working at an Animal Hospital where I was taught patience, empathy and given structure; things I was desperately needing in my life.
I left the Animal Hospital Of Conroe in early June 1999 to begin work at Sigma Genosys, a lab in The Woodlands, Texas where I made synthetic DNA. Itwas a fun job but in August of the same year, i became sick and had to leave that job. I wasn't able to work for about the next four or five months so during that time I began to work on the social life i never had. I joined the Houston Gay and Lesbian Pride Band and marched in the 1999 and 2000 Pride Parades.
In 2000, I started working for a local and long distance landline telephone company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa called McLeodUSA as a customer care agent. In June, I decided to move back to Texas because of some issues that arose with my mother's health, but instead of going back to my hometown of Conroe, I decided to move to Austin, Texas. It's a beautiful city - not too small and not too large - with a huge les/bi/gay population and I feel completely at home here.
In mid-July, I began working for AT&T Wireless (which by the way is an absolutely wonderful company to work for) as a customer care representative. I have made a lot of great friends at AT&T, but the one who has come to matter most is a great guy by the name of Jason Trichel. We met in late August, and from the moment I saw him, I knew there was a connection that had to be explored. We began dating in October and it has been great ever since.
I feel like I am finally beginning to come into my own. I am getting more confident and open about my sexuality everyday and it shows!
I have made many friends and lost many friends in the past few years because of my sexuality, but I came to realize that I have to be true to myself and be who and what I am. While I miss those I lost, I know now that I can never go back to who I was before in order to regain their friendship. For once, I honestly don't want to. Sometimes, our greatest fears can lead to something beyond our wildest dreams.
That is my story.
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