Class of '76

Like I said in my first post, there were four of us. Four young men who turned 18 a few days before they graduated high school, four young men who knew they were different in one certain way. Four young men who by dumb luck, found each other, years before, and went from boyhood friends, to something much deeper; who found sex and a brotherhood that lasted for twenty years.

Back in the day Chris was the leader, he was charming and likable. A real All American Type. He played football and baseball and was involved in every damn club at school. Today he is married and owns a successful advertising business in the mid-west.

Stu was the hippie. He lived for music and dope and he was also a gifted artist and had a heart as big as all outdoors. Today he lives in Maine with his life-partner and maintains an art studio. He teaches sculpture and painting at a small college and he still plays guitar in a rock band on the weekends.

Andy was the boyish one. He was the optimist, the one who always saw things brighter than they might have been and I loved him for that. Today he works in Los Angeles as a consultant for an advertising firm. He still looks boyish and he is still an optimist.

And me? I am the spinner of these tales. Back in the day I was the stoic guy who read a lot and said a little. I was lucky that as I was trying to cope with my sexuality that I had the great fortune of my brothers. We helped each other cope in a homophobic world. Today, I am living with my life partner, not far from where I grew up. I work for the Federal Government and have a satisfying life, but a day does not go by when I don’t think of the gang.

All of the stories you read here are true. I have changed names and some locations, but everything else is pretty much the way I remember it. I hope you enjoy my trips in to the past with the guys and the other men I have known…