I consider Fort Bragg, California my hometown. I moved there in the middle of the 8th grade but I did not have any affinity for my previous communities or schools as I did for Fort Bragg.
A large part of it has to be, inevitably, because i graduated High School from there. That, however, is only partially the reason.
I came to Fort Bragg a FAT, INSECURE outsider. When I graduated from the High School, I was still Fat, I was still Insecure. What I was NOT was an outsider. My classmates accepted me. They did not know how important that was and that was the power of their gift. They accepted an emotionally stunted individual as one of their own. Even 50+ years later, I am fully aware of the gift of normalcy they gave me. After all, when I left the cocoon of Fort Bragg, I began to really understand how abnormal I was. I adapted, survived, and (in some ways) flourished. But it was far, far different from the acceptance that I received in my youth.
I attribute that both to my classmates and the way they were raised. In other words, I am a positive product of Fort Bragg, California.
To put it as clearly as I can. When I left Fort Bragg for the “real world”, I never felt comfortable again until I met Sandy. Not only was she the love of my life (and still is) but, after years and years of denial I realized that, regardless of being worthy, I was the love of her life.
Thus Fort Bragg is a cocoon of my past. More important than it should be but a lifeline to my reality.
