Freaks in the Wilderness

I grew up in a tiny rural town. I grew up without TV.
My exposure to the world was limited and constrained at best.

I knew from a young age that I was different - that I was not like the others.
This was terrifying.

But I grew up with music all around me. I grew up with the sounds, the songs, the words and the melodies around me every day. I grew up with Dylan and Marley and Bach and Coltrane and the Beatles and Aretha.

And I grew up with Bowie. The Thin White Duke. Ziggy Stardust.
I grew up with his words, his music and perhaps most of all his persona(s).

It was because of Bowie that I learned I could be me - the freak and the oddity - with pride.
It was through him that I learned that you could change - could reinvent yourself.

David Bowie allowed me the space and the play to be me.
He changed my life.

This is my thanks.
This is my expression of sorrow and loss.
This is my embrace and my love.

RIP to the man who taught me that "weirdo" is just another way to say "one of a kind."