To me, my biological parents were nothing more than a lesson in what not to become.

Human beings, adults, spouses, parents.

None of these held any redeeming qualities in them. Only flaws filled to the brim—a display of the worst in humanity.

They served as a cautionary signpost of sorts.

The type of people I must never become.

A boundary I should never even approach.

A line that made it clear—if I ever ended up like them, it’d be better to hang myself than live like that…

So, no matter how much I messed up, I strove not to resemble …