I've moved quite a bit as well. 7 locales in 6 states, and Clearwater was once my county seat. I know it has a rep for the Christian Scientists, but my tow was immediately south of it, and while I pushed several times a week to the local Mickey D's or ice cream shop, I'd invariably get confronted by a christian. Christians down there love PWDs. And it was mostly SoBaps I'd be confronted with. Never a ChriSci.
Those two years were pretty emotional for me, to say the least. I was 15 when I moved there, and the very first day, I met all the neighbor girls. All four of them (10-14) came to my house the very day I arrived, in their swimsuits, and invited me to go to one of their houses to hang in their jacuzzi. This was my first real group of neighborhood friends, and it was pretty girls in swimsuits that were always together. Things were great for the first year, but I never reciprocated when they invited me to hang out. Plus, my musical tastes and clothing preferences were pretty weird for a person my age. I just didn't have those social and life skills, and it started showing with all of tem. It was painful to have that all unravel, and I became quite depressed.
I moved out of there, to Arizona, in 1993 to finish high school. Things became fairly stable again with some new friends. But my disappointment in the social aspect of FL was with me for years and years. Lots of resentment. Only in more recent years have I fully realized what all likely went wrong. I just wasn't well socialized because of my disability (and maybe other factors).
In 2011, I reacquainted with my aunt, who lived on the east coast of FL, in Port St. Lucie. We exchanged FBs, and she invited me to the CrossFit national games (whatever they are called), which were being held in L.A. County at the time (now Wisconsin). We've kept in touch since then, and I got to meet up with them in Orlando in '14 ahead of a cruise. I found that any trace of hostility or PTSDishness I had from living in the Clearwater area was gone, and I really loved Orlando, and have developed a fascination with the whole state since, through our common liking of Jimmy Buffett, singer and author.
I would like to make it back to Pinellas sometime. Not sure what I'd do there. I couldn't drag my parents to a Rowdies match. Maybe cross into Hillsborough (the Tampa area) and eat in Ybor City.
Those two years were pretty emotional for me, to say the least. I was 15 when I moved there, and the very first day, I met all the neighbor girls. All four of them (10-14) came to my house the very day I arrived, in their swimsuits, and invited me to go to one of their houses to hang in their jacuzzi. This was my first real group of neighborhood friends, and it was pretty girls in swimsuits that were always together. Things were great for the first year, but I never reciprocated when they invited me to hang out. Plus, my musical tastes and clothing preferences were pretty weird for a person my age. I just didn't have those social and life skills, and it started showing with all of tem. It was painful to have that all unravel, and I became quite depressed.
I moved out of there, to Arizona, in 1993 to finish high school. Things became fairly stable again with some new friends. But my disappointment in the social aspect of FL was with me for years and years. Lots of resentment. Only in more recent years have I fully realized what all likely went wrong. I just wasn't well socialized because of my disability (and maybe other factors).
In 2011, I reacquainted with my aunt, who lived on the east coast of FL, in Port St. Lucie. We exchanged FBs, and she invited me to the CrossFit national games (whatever they are called), which were being held in L.A. County at the time (now Wisconsin). We've kept in touch since then, and I got to meet up with them in Orlando in '14 ahead of a cruise. I found that any trace of hostility or PTSDishness I had from living in the Clearwater area was gone, and I really loved Orlando, and have developed a fascination with the whole state since, through our common liking of Jimmy Buffett, singer and author.
I would like to make it back to Pinellas sometime. Not sure what I'd do there. I couldn't drag my parents to a Rowdies match. Maybe cross into Hillsborough (the Tampa area) and eat in Ybor City.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
