Once Upon A Time...

[Guest guest]

I was born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, the greenest state in the land of the free, raised in the woods so I knew every tree, kilt me a 'bar when I was only three, Da.......woeeeeeeeee, wait, no, that was Davy Crockett.

I get so confused, still. I grew up trying to be so many other things; trying to do so many things, that it's easy to get lost there sometimes. After all, realities are what you make of them, and mine carried me to many places...both "real", and "imagined" to be. Making sense out of which might be which, is a whole other story.

I didn't sit down here to write my life story, though, it's exactly what I seem to be doing now. It didn't really seem to very important, and I'd been running from "me" most of my life. Maybe, as I think back, I was running "to me".

Let me tell you a little secret, I've lived in the south most of my life, raised here, and, as far as most know, a "Rebel". I was conceived in Georgia, but due to a little side trip mom took to my great grandmothers, I was actually born, shhhhh, "up north". Doesn't matter where, so I was a "Yankee" for all of a few weeks, then back south. If that ever got out, I could be 'kilt deader 'dan ah possum on a countree' roode', on a Saderdee nite". Good "thang" nobody will ever see this....whew!

I grew up with two brothers, both younger than me, let's see, that makes me the oldest. That should of been a clue to many things to come. It was about the time of the birth of my youngest brother that my mom and dad split up, well, he decided it was time to split up. Seems the "girl" at the bar, whose husband had recently died in a motorcycle accident, and was getting a nice little insurance package, was a better option at the time. Up until that time, though there were a few other places, we lived in "company housing" for the construction company dad worked for.

Since there was a split, divorc;, housing became all of a sudden, unavailable. But we'll get to that.

You can imagine having just had a baby, your all of what, 21 now, with 3 kids, husbands left, no support, no car to speak of, and doesn't matter anyway, cause you never learned to drive, yet. No education, other than finishing high school, and now facing where to go.

Perhaps, I think maybe I see part of the reason why this must be written. This woman had the deck stacking against her by the day, and...well, you'll see...

I must add that during this time, I remember watching dad go off to work in the mornings, and watching for him in the afternoon to return. He always had a couple eggs in the morning for breakfast, of which, I always got one. I'd spend my days playing, mostly in his old station wagon, a 1956 Nomad...remember those? (think Tim / Tool Man / Home Improvement show; Jill's car.....ohhhh arrrrrrrr). And to think now my mom had it hauled off before we moved. [sniff]

I really didn't understand what was taking place, I was about four, so, you know, I had kid things to tend to, playing...."stuff".

We ended up moving to the local "projects"...opps, sorry, I mean, "Public Housing". You know the places; paper thin walls, bare floors, neighbors, who find themselves there, stressed out beyond human limits, in a place that leaves so little to hope for, draining you, defeating you. I think I used to get beat up about every other day. One more of those things I should of...

.....to be continued, 'bout when I feel like it.

copyright for no good reason 2007guyinthecorner