Thank you so much for posting your experiences...so much of this mirrors my own experiences that it is positively scary yet affirming at the same time! I had a difficult time in childhood particularly with making friends, and was puzzled when told by a well-meaning adult to "act naturally" to make friends. I've been told that I come off as 'aloof', and have learned to somewhat adapt as an adult--I'm 42 now--by smiling more and picking up some social skills over the years. I've had a couple of times where I have caught myself starting to ramble on about one topic too long or being too quiet but that was back in my 30's...

I also still am seen as a bit odd, but honestly it does not bother me anymore. It bothered me when I was in my early teens and wanted badly to fit in with everyone else and be "normal". I had been bullied all the way from kindergarten, so at age 16 just decided that nothing I was going to do would please everyone and decided that if they were going to tease me anyhow, I may as well be myself. The bullying didn't entirely stop, but I got more comfortable with who I was and started to learn how to stand up for myself and others.

I'm married and have a couple of close friends so didn't do too badly. Prior to getting married and having close friends, I did get lonely but it was pretty rare. Another odd quirk that I have is some little stupid event will happen (i.e.: mobile phone stops working) and I will start crying. The funny thing about it is that I'm never crying about the silly little event that set me off, it's always from all of the other events over the past few weeks and some other depressing thoughts on top of it that cause me to go off. That little habit of mine always takes my husband by surprise, since it's never the bigger events that set me off...