There But For the Grace of God

I started noticing superficial similarities. He had a shaved head just like me, and we were both the same age, separated by 3 months exactly. He was born June 1st, 1953. I was born March 1st, 1953, and as I listened to his life story, of mental health issues, darkness and misery, I began noticing stronger similarities, between this unfortunate individual and yours truly. His problems as a child, his falling into the company, that would influence his life most heinously eventually. His low self-esteem, his vulnerability to be drawn in, by anyone who made him feel special, and/or important, and as I sat staring into my flatscreen, I was taken aback suddenly. The image on my screen was not he but me. "There but for the grace of god goes I," was the first thought I had before I broke down and cried, but I wasn't crying for myself, I was crying for him, because he too, like I was also a victim, of an environment that influenced our behaviour and decision making. My path just happened to be not as extreme, as this individual who publicly is seen as a villain, but it could have been. "There but for the grace of god goes I," I continued thinking as I continued to cry.