I grew up around grown ups.
No kids.
It was like I became a grown up by the time I was 5.
I had cousins.
I started school but never really made friends.
Neighborhood kids were on the periphery…
I tried to fit in.
But I just didn’t.
I was told I was weird.
Or at least that’s what I heard most of the time.
But the grown ups liked me.
I was accepted.
So I became a young adult, at a very young age.
My mom brought me up.
My brothers were gone by the time I knew who they were.
My dad got me every other weekend.
Just didn’t happen.
So now, at 70.
I realize I didn’t have a “normal” childhood.
Lots of people don’t (and didn’t).
But there was a doctor.
His name was Uncle Bob.
There was Aunt Jewell.
There was Nancy, a hot teenage daughter with hot friends.
They raised me (and my mom).
For many years.
It was fun.
It was the only place I felt truly safe and not alone.
Their families, even kids, became part of my life.
Then the COPS came.
And the same thing happened.
Cops and their families took me and my mom under their hearts and souls.
If there is anything good about me.
It’s because of my family.
All of them.
And a few stragglers along the way helped out too.
But, oh those DOCTORS and COPS.
They were my family too.
I had become a very happy kid.
With friends……Finally……