2023: I think this may have been the last time I was in a good mood. I had osteoarthritis, and was ostracised and berated as incontinent. I sat in the back of the dining room if I even bothered to go. I had no friends and was crabby. Thoughts of suicide or running away were safety valves, in only I could have ran. Or even stood up.
Due to my low self-esteem I hadn't gone to college or lost my gay virginity until my early 40s.
What kept my spirits up in Shady Pines was listening to my favorite music, the gender-bending British invasion of the early 80s: The Eurythmics, Culture Club, Adam Ant...