Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 12:26:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dan R <danrl1099@yahoo.com>
Subject: Me & Justin 24

Me and Justin 24

The End.


I went through another year of school and hockey.  We never did win the
state championship I so desired.  We came close though.

I went to college briefly on scholarship and went on to pursue my real
dream of hockey.  Over the years I played for 14 years on all levels of the
minor leagues.  I never made it to the NHL, but I had a blast trying.

I currently live in northern Minnesota with my partner Jacob.  You may
remember him from Chapter 14.  We reconnected and have been together for
almost 9 years now.

I am still best friends with Jeff and Ryan.  We played hockey together
after high school in Canada.  They are both married with kids.

I wrote this story about myself for a couple of reasons.  I guess the most
important reason is that gay guys in high school are always portrayed as
sissy fairies.  In my life, that hasn't been the case.  I also wrote this
because of the notion that there are no gay athletes.

Over the years, I was honest with every team I played for.  I never lied
about being gay when I was asked.  Sometimes I wasn't asked, but most
people knew.  There were some problems with some players, but nothing all
that major.  In fact, you would be surprised at the amount of other gay
hockey players that I met along the way.  They didn't want to come out of
the closet, because of what happens when an athlete is `found out'.  But I
also know that being open isn't for everybody.

I really hope you enjoyed my story.  I got a lot of emails from people and
have developed some cool online friendships.  I never thought I would write
anything like this, but I had a lot of fun doing so.  It gave me a chance
to look back at my youth.  The good times and the bad.


Take Care All!