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The River of Resilience:
How Elton John’s I’m Still Standing Reflects a Veteran’s Journey
By R. T. Garner
“I’m still standing better than I ever did / Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.”
For David, a gay veteran just returning home from the front lines, the war was not yet finished. Upon his return home, he battled a different kind — one that tried to his sense of survival, identity, and belonging. As a young child, his father would make nasty comments to him, including, “If you are gay, I will kill you.” Long after he had left his family, long after he had served his nation, long after he had come out to himself, these remarks kept playing back in his head.
The road ahead for David was far from easy. But like Elton John’s I’m Still Standing, his story is a testament to the power of resilience, to the unyielding strength that keeps us moving forward when the world seems determined to knock us down.
“I’m still standing after all this time / Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind.”
The Battle Before the Battle
Before David even entertained the idea of joining the military, he was having trouble with an argument that was occurring within himself. In light of the fact that his father disapproved…
