by Sheila Bligen

1950s: Experience During Naptime: “It Was An Inkling Of A Difference.” So being a native New Yorker, I started my early childhood education on the Lower East Side. I was fourLate 1950s: Neighborhood Crush: “She Was The Sexiest Thing I Had Ever Seen.” Okay, so in the late fifties, we – the big migration – so we moved from the Lower East Side t1960s: First Kiss With Another Girl Was “The Kiss Of Life.” So I’m 17. I’m living in Spanish Harlem and I’m venturing out to Harlem at this point. So Diane becomes one “I Learned How A Broken Heart Actually Feels.” So now I’m 17. I’m a senior in high school. I start to venture out. So I’ve become friends with Diane. Her house was a coFalling In Love, Breaking Up, And Reuniting: “Every Day Was The Best, Best, Best, Best Day Ever.” From my twenties into my thirties, I’m dealing with men and I’m living mOn Being Called An “Elder”: “I’m A Human Being. I’m Sheila. End Of Story.” I’m 67. And if I have to be put in put in a box, I embrace the term queer. But, I don’t...