Joe Loya

And that's what was that was the system they were raised in.

It was easy to give it to my dad.

It was really hard to give it to myself.

That's a good question, Jordan.

That's a great question.

It was so much harder for me.

And you know what?

Sometimes I struggle with things.

And I realize even at my age, 64, I've been out 29 years now.

Sometimes it's still hard because of the regret and the shame that I've been wrestling with all these years.

Sometimes in a moment of real spiritual, emotional fatigue, it's hard for me to give myself compassion.

But that was always going to be my work, right?

It was always going to be my work.

And it's what I strive for.

I'm a preacher's son.

Right.

So I have social skills because of that.

And then I was that very smart.

And so also I learned I had a lot of savvy having been in prison and being able to look at people and stuff.

So I came out with confidence that I would be able to like graph myself under the body politic, the host body of, you know, of citizenry.