Hello, My name is Brandy and I want to start off my blog by teaching you the most important lesson I ever learned. To give you a little background before I share my lesson, when I was 11, I met my father for the first time. From that moment on he became my role model, my superhero, and the person I wanted to be just like. Because of this the lesson I learned has stuck with me forever. I now for a completely different reason no longer speak to my father and will probably never do so again. Many years ago my father said the words that most people should never hear from their father. He told me that I was an ugly duckling and not the fairy tale kind. It broke me and destroyed my self esteem. I still have issues with my self but I have greatly turned away from that. I alienated myself from others and tried to cover up what I was. It changed me but I grew from it. I have turned into the ugly duckling but in the best way possible. I work for the largest staffing company in the United States. I am married to a wonderful man who loves me with his whole heart. I may not have a family support system that many people have but I make the best out of whatever it is that I do have. My life has changed so many times and I have learned so much from it. I am the fairy tale Ugly Duckling. I am not the prettiest girl and I never had big dreams. For everyone else that is called ugly or the ugly duckling use it to your advantage. You are only as ugly or as pretty as you think you are. I used what my father said to become what I am today. Yes I have those moments that I really do feel like the ugly one but then I remember that I am only who I want to be. I still have a lot of growing up to do and I am sure that there are a lot of lessons left to learn. I just wanted to share with you the one that I had to learn from the most important person in my life at that time. It is the lessons we learn from those closest to us that have the greatest impact and create the greatest changes. And there you have the greatest lesson I ever learned.