Who I am........

Back when I had more curl in my hair.....

And was cuter......

With no idea what the world was gonna throw my way.

My parents had some issues.  My Mom was desperate to get out of the rural Pennsylvania farm she grew up on.  My Dad was desperate to get out from under the thumb of his domineering, abusive father.  Oh, yeah, my Dad's Dad (good ol' Grandpa) was pretty awful.  I was scared of him when I was 9, when he dragged Grandma halfway around the country to see us, during which time she was on her way of dying of breast cancer, because she believed in faith healing instead of Dr's.  I was in my Grandfather's company only a few times, and even as a constantly optimistic kid that I was, I knew he was not a good guy.  He passed away a long time ago.  I hope the alligators ate him ~ he was living in Florida somewhere near the Everglades.  

My Dad never graduated from high school.  He enlisted with the Air Force, and they ended up in Bosier City Louisiana, where the base there is most likely the only thing that keeps the city going.  I've seen pictures of the base housing ~ yowza.  The house looked like a box, and probably had asbestos siding.  After my little sister was born, Dad was transferred to Okinawa Japan.  I guess the Air Force sent so many people to Okinawa that we lived off base, as there wasn't any housing available on it.  So, I played with the kids in the neighborhood, and quickly learned how to speak the language (which I promptly forgot when we came back to the states because my parents never learned more than a few words, and my sister forgot faster than I did).  We traveled and visited gardens and shrines, and it was really pretty charming to me.  I looked up some photos online, and realize that it was a very poor part of Japan for many.  Here's a few that show what I mean.

Of course, I don't remember it like this at all, and unfortunately I don't yet have the slides out of storage yet ~ my sister is supposed to get them to me soon, since she had to get the Christmas decorations out of their storage pod.  

When we moved back to the U.S., my parents purchased a new car and apparently it burned up in Colorado.  I bet my Mom totally freaked out.  Stuck in the backwoods of Colorado with two little kids and a burned out car?  Yeah.  

We did end up in San Antonio, Texas, where Dad was a drill sergeant (you have no idea how appropriate that job was), and Mom worked on base in the legal department.  I spent at least 3 days hiding out in houses that we under construction instead of going to school until a neighbor found me and ratted me out.  And so it begins...........

More later.  

Love, 365