teen years
Something that I failed to mention in the last page is the fact that I had a very odd growth pattern
something that continued all through my growing years. When I had entered kindergarten, I was
not only bigger than everyone else, I was also much taller, so much so, that they had to get me a
special desk to sit in from an older class. This did not help with the taunts from my classmates as
they made fun of me.
And after a few years, they caught up to me in size for a few years, and then my growth shot
up again, once more being much larger than the rest of my classmates. This trend continued on
until I stopped growing around 21 years of age.
Anyway, on to my teen years. To say they were difficult would be mild. Thrown into the lion's
den of junior high school, I was a shy, withdrawn kid. And once the rest of the school knew it,
they proceeded to make my life somewhat intolerable. So I dove into the books for awhile and
I tried my best to fit in with the rest of the guys in school. Making friends was very hard for me,
since I had become unwilling to trust anyone for fear that they would just make fun of me in the
end.
Trying to be the class clown ended the day the teacher decided he had enough and took great
pleasure in lighting up my fanny with his paddle. Obviously, that wasn't the right course of action!
So I got more involved with sports. In fact, as I was in seventh grade, my brother was just entering
high school and when he tried out for basketball, he found out that the team needed a team
manager and asked the coach if I could do it.
He agreed and my brother told me that I could do it if I wanted to. Given the opportunity to do
this, I readily accepted. I thoroughly enjoyed the years I spent doing this and the head coach
took me under his wing, many times taking me to dinner after practice, then driving me home
before he would go home. I have many fond memories of my association, first with him and then
with the other coaches from the other sports as I got more involved with the other teams.
I still was being mocked by the kids in school, but the coaches were people I looked up to and
respected, and they gave me the same respect back, which made me feel very good inside.
Girls, though on the mind of many of my mates, were the furthest thing from my mind as I filled
up my days with schoolwork and then the chores associated with the sport teams. That trend
lasted well into high school, as for some reason, though I liked being around them, I felt uneasy
when it came to wanting to be with one on more than a friendly basis.
Due to my abnormal growth spurts, I was a very awkward kid and my attempts at trying out
for the sport teams ended with being cut from them, not being as athletic as others, so I continued
to be the manager for the teams instead, being somewhat connected to the most popular kids in
school. Though now I realize that I really wasn't on the inside, then I felt like I was a part of
something and it made me feel important.
Again, during my teen years, dressing in women's clothing had not surfaced, probably since
I was more concerned and highly involved with my school's teams, which left little time to think
about anything else.