[cripplecreek]

I wasn't as bright as you.

I don't think it's about being bright. I grew up in a way that seems pretty rare these days. A very large extended family mostly living within walking distance. I visited my grand parents and great grandparents nearly every single day and also had aunts and uncles coming and going all the time. My teachers were almost all the same teachers who taught my parents or aunts and uncles.

There are a lot of advantages in growing up in a small tight knit community. The town I live in now only has between 150 and 200 residents. No homosexuals here that I know of.

[Gondring]

Well, I grew up in a rural area, but away from extended family. In any case, my point was that I just didn't even think about whether I'd want to be normal or not, I was just accepting of the fact that I was evidently not! And it all just seemed so foreign to me.