[Gráinne]

I think I knew I was different all the way back to my classmate J****** in first grade, but my first oh-my-god-knock-me-out-of-the-park crush was on my friend, K******, starting at the latter part of ninth grade when she walked into Mr. Hess's math class. I took up trumpet in high school just so I could be one of two female trumpet players in marching band (guess who was the other?). We volunteered together at the hospital. We went to the same college, until I dropped out. So that's a lot of years of crushing! I had boyfriends now and then, but nothing even came close to Kathy.

She never knew-I didn't know, myself. I felt pressured to "find a guy", and I would have given anything to transfer those feelings to a guy, but it never happened. I know where she is now, but we've lost touch.