Joe

Joe, age 4 months
Montgomery, AL (1955)

I am the baby in this picture, 2nd from the left. We are sitting on a Victorian settee that I still have half a century later. In this picture I am just a few months old, but look how happy I am surrounded by my three handsome older brothers.

"Boys, boys boys...."

Three weeks after I was born, my Mother wrote a letter to my Aunt.
I still have the letter, and it is precious to me, because one sentence reads:

'The boys are just crazy about him.'  Mothers always know.

I knew I was different at a very young age, but didn't know what to call it.
I took that common (at the time) venture into marriage, like many in my generation did. I guess I should have listened to Mama.

I was in the 4th grade when The Beatles became popular. I was hooked. I had a Beatles wig and some John Lennon sunglasses. I wanted to be John Lennon - so I could be next to George Harrison.

Joe's first, famous-person same sex crush:

George Harrison