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Blockwell
08-03-2007, 05:24 PM
Hi my name is Dennis

Hi everyone. I ran into this forum by accident during a recent Google Search and I liked what I saw and decided to register.

A little about myself…

My name is Dennis (age 47) and I live with my partner of nine years in Southern New Hampshire. We moved to New Hampshire from San Francisco in 2001 and really like it here very much. Although I do miss my beautiful gray city by the bay, I don’t miss the traffic and the incredible cost of living. We live in a semi-rural area on two acres surrounded by thick forest and love the privacy it affords.

One of the great things about New Hampshire (and one the reasons we moved here) is that very few people here are right wing Christians. Most people here claim to be Christian but the state is dead last in church attendance and no one ever discusses their faith. As long as you pay your taxes, mow your lawn and don’t disturb the peace, you are considered a good neighbor.

I grew up in Southern California in the city of Santa Ana (near Disneyland) and had a great childhood with the best parents anyone could ask for. At the age of twelve though I realized I was attracted to other boys and that is when things started to go awry. I tried to ignore it for the longest time, but eventually I felt I needed to do something about it. This was 1976 and the only information I had on homosexuality was a school scare film where I learned all about the subject. I learned that homosexuals were only interested in young boys and preferred sex in public restrooms. Although this did not appeal to me in the least, I was scared that someday this was going to me. “I must do something about it” I told myself. I did not want to scare my parents so I decided to keep it a secret and seek out help on my own. From what little information I had I figured only Jesus could save me from this awful fate. My parents were nominal Christians at best and we stopped going to church when I was eight years old. They were shocked when I joined the Mormon Church between my sophomore and junior year of high school, but being the kind of parents they were, they were supportive. They had no idea I joined the most conservative church I could think of to cure me of my homosexuality. I will discuss the next two years of my life as a Mormon in later threads; suffice to say it was the most miserable two years of my life, but at least I got that horrible episode of my life done with early.

I have an identical twin brother (straight as an arrow and now Mormon himself) and a sister who is four years older, both my sister and I came out to our parents as gay within two weeks of each other back in 1979 when I was 19 years old. To make a long story short my mother eventually accepted the situation but my father was a different story. He learned to embrace all three of his children and their lives. He died in 2002 but to me he will always be an inspiration of what a father should be. He adored both my sister’s partner and mine and was always interested in our lives and even helped us buy our first home. I totally lucked out!
I guess that is enough for now. I am looking forward to reading other introductions and posts.

Dennis

Zerbie
08-03-2007, 06:26 PM
Welcome Dennis. :)

Sounds like you had some special parents. :love: I'm glad you found the forum, and hope you'll come back and chat more often.

Jennifer5
08-03-2007, 06:33 PM
Glad to have you here Dennis!

My cousins, aunt and uncle are all in Santa Ana and I love the San Francisco area after living there 2 and a half years.

You sound like you have an incredible family! We're glad to have you here! Hope you stick around! :love:

labguy22
08-03-2007, 07:18 PM
Hello Dennis,
I live in the eastbay and the city is still just as beautiful, but I am sure envious of your new surroundings;)
Welcome to Soulforce.

Be Blessed,
Nick

Blockwell
08-03-2007, 08:18 PM
Glad to have you here Dennis!

My cousins, aunt and uncle are all in Santa Ana and I love the San Francisco area after living there 2 and a half years.

You sound like you have an incredible family! We're glad to have you here! Hope you stick around! :love:

I spent my first 19 years in Santa Ana and it will always have a special place in my heart. My parents moved there in 1952 when it was just small city of 35,000 surrounded by orange groves, lima beans, and dairy farms. When I left there was not once square inch of land left to build on and had a population of over 300,000. (I understand it is probably closer to 500,000 due to the under count of illiegal aliens.) My mother passed five years before my father and he lived in the same family home from 1957 to 2002. I don't think there was on English speaking person left in the neigborhood by then.

I lived in San Francisco (The City;))from 1980 to 2001 and loved every minute of it. I sometimes miss all the exciting things to do, and I especially miss the great food. You can get a good seafood meal in New Hampshire, but everything else is just awful.

Blockwell
08-03-2007, 08:21 PM
Hello Dennis,
I live in the eastbay and the city is still just as beautiful, but I am sure envious of your new surroundings;)
Welcome to Soulforce.

Be Blessed,
Nick

Ah, beautiful Walnut Creek, and I mean that sincerly. It is a very nice city and I visited there occassionaly (via BART of course) to visit friends that lived there. I often went there so I could visit summer for a day when the fog of SF was getting to me. SF is a great city but I did get tired of never having warm summer evenings. I get lots of that now and I enjoy it very much. The change is seasons in New England is legendary and I don't mind the snow at all.

elcharrom
08-05-2007, 09:47 PM
Welcome to soulforce, Dennis, I liked reading your post, haha makes me happy that you had great parents :).

paul
08-06-2007, 07:38 AM
Welcome Dennis,

You sound like a wonderful, together guy. I'm glad you found us and hope you become part of the gang. You write well and I look forward to hearing more about your life process. I grew up in L.A. (Disneyland) too. I went to Santa Monica beach a few times a week as a kid. I now live in a more rural area as well...I don't miss the city.

:wave:

paul

pnggrad79
08-06-2007, 09:11 AM
Dennis, you were truly blessed with parents that were accepting of you. My parents don't, but I wish they did. I envy you living where you do, because at this point in my life, all I want is peace and quiet, living with my partner, seeing my grandchildren grow up, and see my kids living a successful, happy life. Ya know what I mean?

Anyway, congratulations on 9 years! I hope you are happy and are at peace with yourself. Best of luck to you and your partner. :):)

Gennee
08-06-2007, 12:13 PM
Hi Dennis and welcome to Soulforce. Thank you for sharing your story.

Gennee

:)