Hi friends. I am blessed to have been born and raised UU in Massachusetts. UU has been a foundation of who I am, what I do, and how I relate to the world in ways I can’t fully articulate because it is so woven into my cloth. Even times in my life that I have moved around and been without a home congregation, I have been UU. I had a wonderful experience as a child in the church, loved RE and OWL, had so much fun in YRUU, and out on Star Island. I was a shocked kid to find out Cat Stevens wasn’t actually recording religious hymns for church. Predictably, I went on to become a Public Health Social Worker working in health equity for marginalized communities.

I know we are not super common, especially outside of New England. Nearly every UU I’ve met adopted UU as an adult. I was on a work trip and met another UU in Michigan and mentioned I was a lifer from Boston and he said, “oh you’re one of those! I’ve never met one before!” 😂 I’ve brought my partner and ex husband to services before and both of them were confused and mildly uncomfortable with it all! Both had been raised Catholic, too so it’s about as 180 degrees as it gets. “Fine, I’ll go to church with you again but I’m not taking my shoes off to ‘feel the earth’ this time!” My partner even spent a week on Star Island with me and loved it, but wasn’t interested in attending chapel with me after the first day.

Are there any other lifers here? Anyone else grew up UU and stuck with it, raising your own kids there? Any multi-generational UUs in the house? How has your UU childhood affected you as an adult?