Day 1

It is a gorgeous day in the Arizona desert. The green palm trees are a beautiful contrast to the clear blue sky. I am sitting on my back patio, listening to the filter of the pool and the birds singing the soothing early summer songs. The silence is quite relaxing, almost hypnotizing. As I sit drinking my homemade vanilla chai iced coffee, I cannot help but think on the circumstances that brought me to where I am today. Up until recently, I have been very angry with the whole world really, because of the hell that I went through growing up. But the serene silence seems to bring me to reality...someone in this world has it worse off than me. This being said, I need to get some things off my chest, so that I can move on with my life, and make it my own; not what the past has made it to be.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

I don’t remember much about my childhood, I have no memories to reflect on. Some people wish that this was the case, if they’ve had a bad childhood; but, as far as I know, mine was good until 1996. That’s when my life changed. Better or worse? Both, I guess.

I was a clumsy child, some have even sworn that underneath my red hair there has to be blonde roots. Maybe I’m just naturally silly…who knows?

My family consisted of my dad, Mark, my mom, Shari, my brother, Christopher (Chris), and myself.

In 1996, my family started going to a church in Circleville, Ohio, called Fountain of Life. From what I remember, it was a quaint little church, I was six years old. There was another family that attended who really hit it off with mine, the Shuttleworth’s. There was Scott, the father, Cheryl, the mother, and Eric and Justin, their two sons. Scott’s mother, Margot, also attended. Eric was seven, Justin was four. We got along together very well, and I’m pretty sure that I had a ‘crush’ on Eric ever since I met him. At the time that we met them, I was six and Chris was eight. There was another couple who attended, the Brown’s; John and Carol.

They seemed like really nice, warm-hearted people. Carol was very spiritual, like she should teach the Bible or something. She was very smart and wise, she was older, so maybe that was it? I didn’t really notice much more than that, since I was only six years old. I do remember other things, though. She always smelled good, and looked very pretty all the time. She was an older woman, about 55, and always put together. She lived alone with her husband and her dog, not unusual for a couple their age. She had six kids, four boys and two girls, all adults and living on their own.