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Friendship
When I share that I am vegan with my peers, they look
at me with sympathetic eyes, like I have some sort of
disease. If being vegan and having compassion for animals
is a disease, it's the best disease I could ever have.
When I think about the short two and a half years that
I have abstained from eating meat, I realize that I
have discovered who my true friends are. They are the
ones that have stayed by my side through it all -- the
ones who have been my rock when I have sunk so low I
felt I couldn't go on, the ones that held my hand at
protests, the ones that didn't turn their back on me
and call me names, the ones that smiled and told me
my first "tofu surprise" dinner was great when I knew
it was horrible.
Throughout it all, being vegan has helped be become
a better friend, a better daughter, a better student
-- just a better person. I can see beauty that I never
saw before. I wear my "Go Vegan!" shirt with pride.
My true friends are the ones that don't criticize me
when I don't want to go to a steakhouse but will go
with me to a vegetarian restaurant instead. I think
overall, my friends are the ones who didn't say veganism
was just a "fad," the ones that actually said, "Wow
this is cool; I wish I had your willpower," and the
ones that supported me and didn't put me down for trying
something new.
Since I became vegan, I've lost some friends and gained
some friends, but veganism has been with me all the
way. I can rely on it. When I feel down about life,
I can say that at least I help animals and fight for
their rights. Not everyone has that to be proud of.
But I do, and I have fought for it. I will keep on fighting
until I don't have a fight left in me, and maybe then
I'll still keep fighting. Friends are like disciples.
If I tell them about being vegan, then they will tell
more people, and eventually everyone will know about
it. Spread the word of veganism, and make the earth
a better and more friendly place to live. We can always
use a few good vegans.
Erin P.
Florida
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