I grew up in a culture that was formed by Dutch immigrants who were members of the Christian Reformed Church. As soon as I could I fled from that culture. Despite what you hear about Holland today and all the free spirits in Amsterdam the dutchmen I knew as a kid were stifling and self-righteous. I was never attracted to blond men and found my childhood acquaintances cloistered and insular.
I escaped to the big city, the whirlwind of the fashion business and the arms of men who were invariably mediterranean.
Fast forward a few years. I find myself involved with a man I would never have looked at when I was 20. He, like me, is dutch descent and grew up in a Christian Reformed community. I could not be with him if he were still involved in that community. But it's a comfort to have common touch points, common experiences although we grew up on different coasts.
Curiously, my ex, an italian immigrant, is now involved with an italian american.
Maybe we both wanted to come "home" to roost?
Though we came from vastly different worlds concerning religion and he had a far wilder youth than I would have survived, Jon and I have ended up in a similar place with similar sensibilities. There's a knowing that is hard to put into words. We "get" it. We "get" each other. NIce.
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