Thank you!

This is a pretty personal post. If some of you reading this feel a bit left out, I apologize; I'll be back to the usual subject matter soon.

As you might have guessed from reading it, my post of Friday, March 31 (Come out, come out, wherever you are...) was prompted by my decision to come out to my sister and a number of old & dear friends. The first letter was sent that evening, the rest late Monday night.

So far, all my fears have been unrealized. The reaction has been warm, loving and entirely supportive. I consider myself an extremely lucky human being.

In the midst of all this, I had to ask myself why. What is it about this particular group of people that's so special? Why are so many others abandoned and reviled by people they thought cared for them? A few thoughts come to mind.

We were a liberal (in a social sense) bunch growing up in liberal times. None of us were really a part of the in crowd; we were the weird kids, the band geeks, the speech & drama department dorks. I think almost every one of us felt an outcast at one time or another.

And I think that has stayed with us. We tend to root for the underdog, the oddball, the misfit, the eccentric. And when one of us comes along and reveals what a misfit she's truly been, the reaction is, "Wow! Well, I'm glad that you've finally done what you need to do to be happy. You've got my support."

Thanks, guys, thanks to each and every one of you. You've made me feel that I'm not such a misfit after all.