Ever since I could walk, I had a passion I didn't understand. My friends would have to pretend to be animals with me, because that's the only way I liked to play. I never played with dolls, but I loved to use rocks as my eggs and protect them in my nest. I had a wild streak that ran so deep it confused me. The only use I had for Barbie clothes was on my TY beanie animals, which I dressed to look anthropomorphic and made up long roleplays. Usually I would make their clothes out of scrap fabric. My imagination ran wild with animals in somewhat human forms. My imaginary friend was a kangaroo named Steve, who understood me when no one else could. I loved to draw and was pretty good at it even before I was in kindergarten, but I only drew animals. Often they were in story form, as I couldn't write yet. As I got a little older, I developed passions for certain animals at different times. When I got too old to openly pretend to be an animal, I would simply daydream about it or imagine myself as one. It went from cats, to horses, to wolves. Each one had something about it that triggered something in me.
And yet, I had never heard of a furry. When I finally did, it all clicked. That was what I'd been all my life, and I hadn't even known it. So technically I've been part of the fandom for 2 years, but I've been a furry forever.