Don

One of the first things I like to tell people about myself is there were five kids in my family: Tommy, Connie, Ronnie, Donnie and Bonnie. Even though my parents, Pansy and Ivan (true names…believe it or not) chose those names, it always seemed to be a tongue twister for them when one of us was in trouble. Inevitably, we would all be called into the room when someone was about to be punished for one of our charades. And, with the five of us, there was always something going on at our house.

The second thing I like to tell people is that I grew up in Terre Haute (Terrible Haute), Indiana. I knew from the time I was four that I needed to start a savings account so I could get out of there. Terre Haute is fondly nicknamed the armpit of Indiana. The aromas from the local paper mill are horrible. I needed some cash to start the account so in the first grade I swiped all my Dad’s neckties from his closet and sold them door-to-door for one penny each. I slept that night with the pennies clenched in my hands and woke up with green fingers and palms the next morning. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the ties were gone and I had to return to my clients and buy the ties back.

One great thing about Terre Haute was that it had railroad tracks running all through the city. The summer before seventh grade I thought it would be cool to hop a slow moving train and see how far I could go. I don’t know exactly how far I went but I do know it was a long time before a train came back in the opposite direction. Unfortunately it was dark before I got home and a detective was sitting in the living room with my parents when I came through the front door. The rest of the evening kind of went downhill from there.

My next door neighbor had a ballet studio so she started taking me at the age of four to classes with her so the little girls would have a boy to dance with. Loved the costumes! I was well on my way to gaydom. I danced all the way through high school, received a full scholarship to a private college and left Terre Haute behind me.       Continue >>>