Reply #43: Like you I grew up in the mid-west in the 60s and I was in a family

[rebel with a cause]

that the repubs would love to use as a poster for their ideal. My father was not gay, but that didn't change the fact that my mother was miserable in her marriage and a prisoner of it. We were a large family and we were dysfunctional. I began thinking about suicide when I was around five. Why I never committed it is because of my individual strength, not anything that my family did. None of my siblings are what you could call happy. I have not spoken to most of them for twenty years and am happier for that decision. I have one sister who I speak with, and she has recently cut off her connection to the rest of the family also. It seems that when I left the family, she took my place as the scapegoat and she finally couldn't take it any more.

Were we the real America all those years ago when we kept our secrets and hid our pain? Were we the real America when we hated our lifes and the role we were forced to play in society? Were we the real America when we believed what they told us even when we knew they were wrong? Yes, we were the real America back then that they talk about today.

Hell no, I won't go.......back to how it use to be.