Around the blogosphere, there are some who have proclaimed every Tuesday to be 'Self-Portrait Tuesday'. On this day, participating bloggers will typically post a photograph from their past and give a brief explanation of the picture. So today I officially join in the fun.

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I have had a number of good friends in my lifetime but there are two that I would consider my closest friends. The first is John on the right in the photo below. Our birthdays are only 9 days apart but you wouldn't know it from looking at us because he was always so much bigger than me. His momma fed him very well!

John was a 'country' boy and I was a 'city' boy so we never attended the same public school. However, we literally grew up together in church from the time that we were bed babies. Many a Sunday, we would alternate spending the afternooon at each other's home. I always liked going to his house out in the country because his house was surrounded by woods that provided many hours of exploratory fun.

I'm not sure of our exact age in the photo but it was taken sometime between 1970 and 1975 when we were in elementary school. Those were great days. Two heterosexual friends of the same gender could put their arms around each other without shame and the word 'gay' meant 'happy'.