I Always Knew I Was Special

by Sam Rosa

As I look back now, I always knew that there was something different about me. I never made it a truly public thing, but to anyone that would ask, I'd proudly reply, "I'm adopted," like a war hero showing off a medal of valor. In the back of my mind though, I always wondered what would make my parents decide to put me up for adoption. At first I thought it was abandonment, like they had cast me aside in favor of bigger and better things, and I felt the anger and the disappointment that comes with it. Now that I look back, I realize that they were doing something for me that I couldn't do for myself. They were giving me the chance to be a better man - it just took me twenty years to really learn to appreciate it.

6S

Sam Rosa grew up in the blissfully strange neighborhoods of San Jose, California. Between living down the street from a home for the criminally insane, discovering his love for history with a renaissance sword troupe, and reconnecting with his biological parents, he's still looking for his niche in life. (And maybe a good corned beef sandwich.)