THEN

1. I willingly wore a dress. This changed after age 7.
2. I made funny faces in all photos.
3. My parents grudgingly bought all new toys for me when I rejected my sisters hand me down like Barbies. Although I did have my GI Joe (realistic lifelike hair!) kidnap the Barbies on occasion.
4. I began playing baseball little league with boys and pursued that until I was summarily forced to play softball with the girls. I became less interested in the sport but liked my teammates, well, better.
5. I am sure I was the only third grader to ask for a microscope and animals to dissect for Christmas - and got them.
6. My lesbian aunt became a major obsession for me and whenever they came to visit I went like a bat out of hell on my bike to see them at my Uncle's house. This is when my parents started to suspect I was more than a tomboy.
7. I was allowed a canary - and that was a concession - as a pet. My parents hate animals in the house and I once caught hell for bringing the class turtle home for Christmas break without asking.
8. Teen years were hellish in many ways but I was blessed with supportive family and teachers (many of them gay). They saved my life. The lesbian aunt helped too.
9. I spent summers in Italy, on a Vespa, on the beach and generally in heaven since girls (and boys) walked holding hands and arm in arm. La dolce vita.
10. I was surrounded by boys in high school. One evening, when I asked my Dad if he always knew I was a lesbian, he replied " in high school, when I let you get into a van full of boys and you said you were going bowling, I let you, right? Did I let you sister do that?" 'Nuff said.