I just recently changed my screen name for more anonymity. I have never been identified as gifted and was not a good student in jr/sr high. I am the first in my family to go to college - I put myself through at 25 and then went to law school a few years later. While I was there, I had a baby. I have done work that is challenging and stimulating to me and I feel I am accomplished in my career.
My DH was id'ed as gifted and was in a self contained gifted program as a kid. I think his is HG+. He essentially skipped a grade when he missed a year for medical reasons and they did not hold him back. He and my DYS DS think the same and my thinking is a little different. However, the both of them have executive function deficits and I have a frontal lobe for 3. LOL. I think I am gifted but not as highly gifted as DH and DS but I have other strengths that make it easier for me than for them. I generally enjoy the pace of living with 2 2Eers and have never really found anything intense about our lives until I realized that not everyone is like us. I find it difficult to connect with people - not sure if it's giftedness or generally (though not extreme) introverted personality but I find a lot of kindred spirits here - like an OP said, for me it's the advocacy. That and the feeling that I am not alone in thinking that my kid deserves an education to his ability. In the real world, no one wants to hear about the issues you have with your kid that is too smart.
Funny story though, my DS was being funny and said "when you have a really smart person and a really athletic person you get a [then he said his name]. I asked which one of us was which and he said I was the smart one and DH was the athletic one.
