“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” ~Bernard M. Baruch
I became aware of my outsider status as a boy in fourth or even fifth grade.
I didn’t like playing video games after school, I played basketball while the other boys played soccer, and most of all, I didn’t like the unpleasant and sometimes bullying tone that had formed amongst my good friends.
One good friend in particular—let’s call him Theo—I considered to be my best friend.
For years, we celebrated birthdays, played together, laughed together, and held each other’s hands walking from school to the after-school club. I was proud to say that he was my best friend, and I was his, but lately I had sensed a change in Theo’s behavior towards me.
Our friend Sebastian joined us on a walk of half a mile to the afterschool program. Sebastian and Theo were neighbors, their parents knew one another well, and even played soccer together.
As I trudged down the narrow sidewalk in front of them, they laughed and pushed one another jokingly like young boys of that age do ,…
