Childhood Syns

This is just a brief rundown of my life as a kid.

The earliest memory I have is me standing in my crib. I remember the lay out of the room, me facing the door to the hallway and a baby table in the corner. I think it was dusk or early morning and I was not crying – I was just standing up. I see my mom come to me down the hall and go into my room. She must have laid me back down/changed me whatever – I don’t remember after that – maybe I fell asleep – I do remember though being very calm and loved, which is a very good feeling to have.

I started reading at a young age and never stopped. Dick and Jane books were by my bed all the time, followed in later years by books by Beverly Clearly, the great Encyclopedia Brown guy, Hardy Boys, Choose Your Own Adventures, Agatha Christie, Tolkein, and so on and so on….

I went to a catholic grade school, which I didn’t mind so much, but in retrospect, I probably would have been better in a public one. People tend to be more open about kids who may be different. Not that I was very different – at least not way back then. My brother was. He has brain damage and an enlarged head (later this would cause seizures, starting at age 12). People do stare, I especially noticed this early on in life. I learned from this. * Who cares what anyone else thinks, just be who you are! * This mantra has helped me later on in life with just about anything: Changing schools, coming out, relationships, etc.

Me and my Bro at the kitchen table one morning

Me and my cousin Rick – First Communion? Not sure…

My Brother!

Photo Op!

Me on the Floor

My Brother

My brother is very cool! He is older than me, we’ve fought, made up, fought, etc. Just like reg. siblings. One thing that I can always count on though is that he’s in my corner and I hope that he knows that I will always be there for him too. One time I was visiting them a couple years ago, and my brother was shouting at the T.V. I asked him what was wrong and he responded that some baseball player was anti-gay and that upset him. WOW. Yep, my brother is pretty cool.

My mom basically raised us by herself. She ran a salon out of the home. She once ran one with her sisters, but quit that to get married and settle down. She didn’t know that my dad’s dad would pass away at an early age, thus leaving the family business to his sons…. having that fizzle out due to poor management, seeing my dad drink alot and move away to start a teaching job further North. Yep, we were alone a lot growing up – just the three of us, but we did have fun times! My other grandparents were there for my mom and vice versa. They were awesome!. I got a job at 13, delivering papers. I haven’t stopped working since. I held a job all throughout high school (thankfully I managed to switch to a public one, where my brother went to) and I had 3 of them throughout college.

After college, I moved to Milwaukee and am at the same company I started with all those years back. After several bfs, a brief stint as a drag queen, getting caught in a park, maintaining friendships, getting to know my family better, etc… It’s been quite an interesting life so far…. stay tuned