In 1982 my mother, Tracy*, was seeing a man named Ze* and in December of that year she found out that she was pregnant. Ze*, didn't want anything to do with her after that. My mom moved in with my grandparents. Grandpa was ex-military, jack of all trades, and a drunk. Grandma was an ex-waitress and had lung cancer, she was no longer able to work. I was born on Sept. 3rd, 1983 in Sacramento, Ca. While my mom worked, I stayed home with my grandma, we would drink black coffee and watch cartoons.
Then when I was about a year and a half old, my mom met Rico (my dad). My mom instantly fell for him, especially when he took to fathering me so well. They were married 6 months later Dec 7, 1985 that was the best and worst day of my moms life. My grandma had died earlier that morning, they were able to have a bedside wedding for her in the hospital. Soon after that we moved to Modesto, Ca. My dad worked in concrete, and later got a job with Sav-mart, and Albertsons. My mom was a home maker most of my life, but if we needed it she took a job as a waitress. My little sister, Chrissy*, was born in August of 1986.
I was pretty young still so I dont remember a lot. But in Feb of 1988, I remember having an earthquake. My mom, pregnant with my brother, had grabbed my sister and was yelling at me to get outside. Once out there I ran around like a manic. My mom, petrified that I was going to fall through the earth, was screaming at me to sit down next to her. The earthquake ended almost as quickly as it had started and thing went back to normal.
I had made friends with the neighborhood kids and I had 3 really good friends, two of them lived next door Rod and Craig, and the other lived across the street Brandon. The four of us were pretty much inseparable. Life was pretty simple, we were usually outside and because we lived in California, that was almost all the time. We also loved video games Nintendo had just come out with Mario Bros. and my friend Brandon could play with one hand. No, he had two hands, he just played with one. I would go to visit my aunt and uncle alot, they had 3 boys and my aunt enjoyed spoiling a little girl. My cousins would often ask me to ask their mom for things because I was "queen."
In August of 1988, I started school. My mom would take me and pick me up. I enjoyed school, but I was a talker. And I was always more focused on helping other kids get their work done... I rarely did my own. Two months later my brother, Scotty*, was born.
We had a pretty typical life, I can remember going to Disneyland a lot as a kid, Mickey was (and still is) my favorite. Camping was always fun. We even had a dog, Toby, and I loved that dog more than anything. I decided one day to take him for a walk, I wasn't much more than 6. And Toby was a 40lb black mutt. He saw a cat and darted after it. Well, I was NOT about to loose my dog, so I held on for dear life, screaming for my mom. Once she got Toby stopped, I had some of the worst road rage you had ever seen.
When I was 7 my parents decided to get a divorce. My dad thought that drugs and alcohol were more important than family. And my mom wouldn't put up with the drugs anymore. We moved out, and in with my aunt, uncle and their 3 boys. She lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I started second grade in a new school, and had to make friends all over again.
