Straight from the heart - 01

This letter is a repost of a strawberry letter from the steve harvey morning show.

Date: 01/02/2008
Subject: A future Attorney in love with an Inmate??

Good Morning Friends; Big Daddy Steve, My Girl Shirley, Sexy Tommy and last but not least "the prettiest pregnant woman in radio" - Hey Carla girl!! Well it's like this, I'm a 24 year old woman who appears to have it all (to the public) but inside I'm dying from a broken heart. I just graduated from Northeastern University with TWO bachelor degrees and by the way, I am the first person in my family to even attend college - let alone graduate. I live alone, I don't have any kids, I have a great full time job and I've recently began my first year in Law School. However, when I was 12 years old, I met the love of my life and we've been together ever since. Granted at the time, we were both too young to be in a serious relationship or anything like that but we BOTH knew that we were meant to be and we've made it work for the past 12 years. My parents have always stressed the importance of my education and they've always been in my corner - supporting me in EVERYTHING I set my heart on except one thing - my boyfriend. For the past six years my boyfriend has been locked up because of his poor life choices. Basically he tried living the life his older brothers and friends were living and eventually got "caught up" in the lifestyle. So now at the age of 26, he's sitting in jail regretting everything he's done and everyone he's abandoned due to his bad choices. Along with my parents, my boyfriend has always been that backbone I needed whenever I thought my dreams would never come true. I know you're saying "he's in jail" - yes I know, I think about that every day but we've made it work and we're content with the way our situation is right now. My boyfriend is NOT a bad guy - he's just a young black man who made bad choices and is trying his hardest to turn his life around. My boyfriend will be released from jail in December and I'm worried that my family will not accept him for the man that he is but discriminate against him because of his past. My mother constantly brings up the fact that I'm going to school to be an attorney and even says that I'm settling for less than what I deserve because my boyfriend is in jail. What does that mean? Why is she implying that because I'm in school and my boyfriend is locked up - that he is beneath me? She sometimes jokes about it when there's company around thinking she will embarrass me if she talks about my man. She says comments like "are you going to school to defend your man when he gets in trouble again?" or "are you working on his case" when she sees me studying. Sometimes I choose not to spend time with my family because every time I visit them there's always a discussion about my future plans with my boyfriend. I'm a grown woman and I do for myself, I shouldn't have to be "grilled" or lectured about my love life. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I respect their concern but there should be a point when enough is enough. I've been hearing it for the past six years and I'm tired of it. It's beginning to put a strain on my relationship with my parents and its starting to stress me out. My parents have already stated that my boyfriend will not be welcomed in their home once he comes home. This breaks my heart because I have a HUGE family and we get together on a regular basis and the one person that I hold dear to my heart will never have a chance to be a part of that. I've expressed to my mother that if he's not accepted by the family then she will eventually lose me, and she calmly replied, "well I'm willing to take that chance" and walked away. Is this a double standard?? I remembered my mom paying for my oldest sister's wedding a couple of years back and my sister's husband is an ex convict too, so what makes me different? What should I do? I love my man dearly but I also love my family. Should I stay with my boyfriend despite my family's disgust? Should I explain to my parents how much I love my man and tell them that we are going to be together if they like it or not? Should I end my relationship with my boyfriend and over look the 12 years we've been together because my family will not accept him? Or should I continue to ignore them and began building a future with my boyfriend. Please help! I need some advice... I'm seriously thinking I will end up in a mental institution from all of the pain and stress I'm being put through over MY RELATIONSHIP with MY BOYFRIEND. Please be gentle because this is a serious issue; however, please respond as if I am your daughter. Thanks so much! I love you guys and value your opinion. Tommy baby, stay sexy boo! Yours truly, A future Attorney in love with an Inmate...