How We Became

I really wanted to start this story like David Copperfield- “I am born.” But I just cannot bring myself to be so cheesy or so over the top unoriginal.

I really do not remember a whole lot about my childhood before I was 9 and I only recall little bits and pieces here and there after that until I became a teenager. I do remember a particular Christmas that my parents bought me a Bo Duke doll. (I was so in love with John Schneider as a kid! I loved to watch the Dukes of Hazzard!) Anyway, that Christmas was one of the best that I remember. We didn’t get individual gifts. Mama and Daddy couldn’t afford all that. Instead, they put a bunch of random toys into a tomato box- for those that don’t know what a tomato box is, it’s a box that holds about twenty-five pounds of tomatoes and is sold to restaurants- and we loved it. To this day, all of us still talk about that Christmas!

I also remember the year my oldest brother got married. I was one of his flower girls and I wore the prettiest, fanciest dress I have ever worn in my forty-three years. It was a mauve, poufy sleeved creation. And that year was so cold! He got married in December. We had a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, literally.

Not a lot of holidays stick out for me. I do remember being the biggest brat to my mom the year after my dad went to jail. It was terrible how we never thought about how stressed and exhausted she must have been, working, raising kids on her own, and never breaking down in front of us. My mom is a fighter! She raised us all to be fighters and to not be held back by any one or anything.

My dad went to prison when I was 9 years old. It was a big deal for the locals at the time. It was in all the papers and on the news. It was at that age that I knew and have always known what others are just now sorting out- the media is not now or ever going to be your friend. And they are protected. You would not believe how protected they are!

We spent so many weekends going to see my dad. We didn’t do sports or have sleepovers with friends. Our house certainly was not the kind of place you wanted to bring your friends over to hang out in. We had small televisions, maybe of the 13-inch variety and not only were they small, are you ready for it? They were black and white. We didn’t get a color tv until 1990! Ironically, the very first thing I saw on it was a black and white music video and I thought it was broken. Who knew?! I will never forget how shocked and ticked I was at the same time.

Weekends spent visiting my dad were spent getting felt up by prison guards and seeing people make out at tables while he talked about lawyers and why he shouldn’t be there. Never mind that he was there based on a choice that he made that changed the course of all our lives. It has always amazed me how the choices of one can change the paths of so damn many; whether they want it changed or not! I think at this point I should note that we all turned out absolutely amazing and grew up to be some pretty cool people. We all have our own version of the same story to tell.

And I guess this is where we start.