Here A Link, There A Link

Well, hello to you! For those of you who have been here before, finally, I have something on this page. I managed to include a pic finally, albeit not a very good one. I have never considered my photogenic by any stretch of the imagination, but oh well, here you go! This page is more dedicated to my family than anything, although odds are, they will never actually see it. I am very family oriented. I have sat and watched my parents through the good and the bad times. I have to admit, that when it comes right down to it, they are an incredible bunch of people! My father married my mother when he was 18 and she was 18. Due to my birth being two and a half months premature, I was born nine months and one day later. Considering they were kids having a kid, I don't think they did too bad a job. Knowing now that things had not been planned this way, I can respect all their efforts to raise me and keep me in line. None of us are so arrogant to say that mistakes weren't made, but overall, I think things were done in the best way that was possible for two young people with little experience. My father was already enlisted in the Navy, in fact, he married my mother while home on leave! We traveled a great deal due to my father's career. I, myself was born while he was stationed in San Diego, CA. And believe it or not, I drive like a native Californian, heheh!! My sister was born in Naples, Italy, while we were stationed there. At this point I was three, and only vaguely remember anything about Italy. My brother was born 7 years after that while we were stationed in Virginia Beach, VA. Oddly enough, I seem to be the one who looks different than all the others, as I am the only one who picked up the trait of red hair from my father. My sister and brother came out blond ! I have since fixed that a few times, but even I get tired of Miss Clairol. (hehehe) While we look different, we ( my sister and I ) are like two peas in a pod. We argued for the most part throughout our childhood, but even now we realize that we are more alike than almost any two people can be. We are friendly to almost anyone, and while her temper is much quicker than mine, we both have identical scenarios in "blowing up!" Neither of us actually have a great number of enemies, however, the ones we do have, have an amazing tendency to tuck tail and run the other direction with little more than a cross look from either of us. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that at some point previous to this, we have gone nuclear with that person! hehehe We can be BAD to those who piss us off, although we can easily be the best friend you have ever had. It is an incredible measure of extremes with us. We are not much for half way situations. As for my brother, I can't say a whole lot about him at the moment. I don't see him much now that I am so far away. Being ten years younger than me, I have missed a great deal of his life when it probably mattered most. I do know that he is very in to the trends. A stage I hope he soon outgrows! Trends are expensive and tedious and change with the wind....(esp El Nino hehehe). My parents are the same with a few changes. My father has mellowed a great deal. We all get our temper from him, and he has come to realize that and has made adjustments, hoping that it is not too late for us to learn. Oh, well! Maybe someday we will. My parents found out about me when I was 18. Of course that is when I finally admitted it to myself. It was a long battle. Within six months, I was back in the closet under the guise of religon. I couldn't stand to hurt them like that and it was the fastest and most acceptable way out. It took me two years to come to terms once more. When I did, it was even harder than the first time, although I did not fall into the depression and funk I did before. I came to grips with MY reality and threw it around so that there was no question. At some point, their pain became too much and I found other channels to focus my life on. I mananged to stay sane and drug free unlike a lot of stories you hear. I turned to others for support and venting. I pulled that part of my life out of the faces of my family and we all went along pretending. I do believe that we have come to grips with each other, that it is there, but the strength of family has prevailed and they can love me for me, knowing that my choices may not always be right in their eyes, but that my choices or life do not define all of who I am. My family goes way beyond my parents and siblings. I have a great deal of family scattered all over Arizona and Texas. I can't begin to go into all of them, but at some point, I will be adding more on. If you managed to read all of this, you either really wanted to know about me, or you were too bored to do anything else! Congratulations either way!! =)

TO BE CONT

Brendan

Killeen, TX