The First Day and Then Some

This is entire post is dedicated to Maude.  She knows who she is.  


I was never a follower in school.  And for that I am grateful.  Because there were so many friends I might have missed if I belonged to the cheerleader, football, click crowd.  I had one friend who sat out in the breezeway and played his guitar between class changes.  I had another friend who was going to be an entreprener.  He is a millionaire now.  He was a late bloomer and married late in life.  I was very shy.  My mother put me in modeling class to try and bring me out.  That just taught me how to apply makeup but did nothing for my social life.  If anything, taking modeling then labeled me as a snob somehow.  I have no idea how.  Then after graduation my parents sent me to Paris France for a year
to help out my Uncles huge family of four kids.  That was probably the best experience of my life. It opened up other cultures and the world for me.  If any teenagers are reading this.  And if they don't fit
in with any groups.  Have faith.  Be proud that you are not a lemming following the crowd.  My favorite quote from the For Better or Worse cartoon is this.  "Maybe I am different because I was put here to make a difference."  And that is a very powerful statement.  It was spoken by one of the first gay teen characters in a comic strip.  Bloom whenever you are meant to.  Everyone is different.  All great people in society were non-conformers.   Mama Cass sang it best.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7zSY5O6FU&feature=related