Raised in a dysfunctional family in rural upstate NY. Was bullied ALOT so isolated. But with siblings and extended cousins I did have some peers. Spent hours alone building detailed dirt pile worlds and drawing the same during the winter. Wrote histories and made up languages of those imaginary places.
At 16 two new kids moved into the school. Both thought I was the only normal kid there which was a tonic for me, a suicidal, abused, gay kid from a fundamentalists church. That church and the "Christian" college I went to contributed to major damage to my psyche, and to an entire family. I now have 2 adult children and 2 grandchildren.