Rememberment, Chapter IV: All the Other Kids

Dad was no longer a member of the Lutheran Church like the rest of our family, but instead had joined the Evangelical Free Church when he became a born-again Christian. He would often take me with him to their meetings, where they had a separate club room for children.


The routine there was pretty much always the same - we started by singing some gospels together, then did some coloring and drawing (which I always enjoyed). After that we would have some juice and cookies and then gathered together to hear some bible stories, and then sang one more song together in the end.


The church also held summer camps. They had all the usual fare - outdoor and indoor games, sausages over the fire, swimming (which I gave a pass - I was afraid of water and didn't learn how to swim until I was 12 or so) and obviously gospel-singing and Bible-storytelling a plenty.


But even with all that, I didn't make a single friend with any of the Free Church children. I would join the group activities when told to do so, but whenever possible I would rather just spend time aside from the others, withdrew into a corner and started drawing.


During the summers I was also often brought to spend time with my cousins who lived in a big country house. The story was pretty much the same while I was there - they had a delicious collection of comics, and a good portion of the time I would just stay alone, immersing myself in reading instead of playing with my cousins.


Pictured: definitely not an autistic child.

And then I went to school. 


The first grade was held in an activity center in the middle of suburbs located some 9 kilometers from our house. Most of the other kids lived in the vicinity of the shool, and many of them were already friends, or at least familiar with, each other when school started.


So there I was: A skinny, little boy with an ultra-conservative Christian upbringing who didn't know anyone, lived in the middle of the woods, had no social skills and little interest in other people, and had already read a ton of books when the rest were just starting to learn their ABCs.


What could possibly go wrong?

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