Irony in life

            Growing up was difficult for my siblings and I. We were poor, dirt poor you might say. I can remember winters in Indiana not having hot water and in some cases not having heat. It gets cold in Indiana during the winter. I can remember being hungry a lot.

Life is tuff for two uneducated parents, especially if one is a convicted felon, a convicted child molester at that. Don’t worry kids, he didn’t do it I’m told, and I tend to believe it.

My biological father is/was an alcoholic who beat my mother and sowed his oats in other fields quite frequently. I think at last count he had 6 or 7 kids by 5 different women (who keeps falling for this guy?!).

So, my mother and her second husband, who she met in prison through her brother who was also in prison, raised me. Thumbs up right kids?  So any way back to what I was saying here; life was tuff. My step dad found work where they didn’t do much digging into your past, like Burger King, construction jobs, janitorial services etc. My mother was a secretary for the Department of Child Protective Services ironically enough. You see the irony right? Convicted child molester, wife works at CPS … You got that right? Oh ok good.

So life is very difficult anywhere with out money. I remember our first television. That’s right I was old enough to remember it when we got it, third hand too. It had 14 buttons on it 13 for channels 1 – 13 and a knob that you pulled out to turn on and off, and turned if left and right for volume.  It wasn’t “cable ready” meaning it had two bolts on the back so you could attach an antenna (we used a coat hanger and tin foil). It was also pretty small, like 13 or 14 inches small. Its simplicity was what I loved about it. My TV today is huge (52 inches) and can display up to 1080p. I bet if I asked it to, it would make me coffee in the morning too.

I’ve had an interesting life so far. I mean I grew up poor, joined the Army, went to Afghanistan and now I’m a 30 year old in school for the second time while raising two kids.

Mom if you’re reading this, I love you. I know you did the best you could. The things I talk about here and in the future aren’t about you, it’s about me and it’s a way to unravel the past. I hope you understand.