See Part 1 in this ongoing autobiographical series here:
So, let me start this by saying: this is not a sympathy thing. I’m very happy with my life now. My family, my job, and my home are amazing. I’ve had some rough stuff in my life, which probably adds to my eccentricity. Which makes for good art. Just ask Vincent van Gogh. Or Salvador Dali. (My two favorite artists, BTW)
I was born in 1975. Grew up in Northern California. Our house was in Napa, but all the grandparents lived about 15 miles south in Vallejo. My maternal grandpa was really a father to me. More on this later.
When I was growing up, my dad was an alcoholic. He was abusive toward my mom more than me, but that changed later. Thankfully, he sobered up and we had a decent relationship until he passed in 2004. My mother divorced him in 1983/4, and did some kinda horrific things, up to and including marrying my first step-dad who beat the crap out of me and broke my front teeth. Then, because I was pissed off, I started playing with matches. Burned a patch of carpet in their condo. Their response? I was put in a mental ward for two months. “Celebrated” my 11th birthday there. Didn’t see my mom for seven and a half years after that. My maternal grands got custody/guardianship of me in 1986.
My Grandpa Glenn was the guy that, even at 58 years old, was happy to have a son. Took me to all my band competitions, all my Boy Scout meetings and campouts. Hell, he bought a station wagon so he could transport me, my gear, and my friends up to wherever the hell we were going. He got honored by Troop 64. He’s also the one that always encouraged me to follow my dreams. My middle name is Glenn. Bon and I have an almost eight year old, named Glenn.
He taught me to swim (helpful when I joined the Navy), he taught me how to play cribbage, darts, Boggle (there’s a blast from the past), Acey Ducey… He let me watch Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” when I wasn’t allowed to watch MTV, let me watch the debut of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” even though he didn’t “do” science-fiction.
He encouraged me to develop a relationship with my dad, who was still working on his issues. In 1991, I moved to live with Dad in Boise, ID.
Yes, I have walked to school in the snow. Shut it.
After about a year or so, my dad was getting abusive, so I ran away. Dropped out of high school. Spent about three years tooling around, bouncing from couch to couch, doing odd jobs and such. Bounced down to SoCal, lived with my mother for a while while I got my high school diploma at adult school, got fed up with her crap, did some more random jobs, lived in LA for a while, was an extra in “Clueless” and “Get Shorty”…
Joined the Navy in 1995. It was fun, met my ex-wife, got out, we had a son. In 2008, she left me for her high school boyfriend in Alabama, who was literally in prison at the time. Not jail. Prison. This dude is a real piece of work, too, lemme tell ya.
So, I was forced to go back to Southern California (we were living in Charlotte, NC at the time). Lived with my dingbat of a mother for about a year and a half, got an associate’s degree in graphic art (up until then, I was completely self-taught, but already published three times), worked at the San Diego Zoo, worked at a movie 3D conversion company (where I met my beloved wife), and started Boot to the Head Studios (my political art “arm”) and Kilgore Art and Design (my “legit” art “arm”).
Bon and I have been together for twelve years, married for ten. Our first date was San Diego Comic Con. No bullshit. She’s the puzzle piece that matches mine, with the weird curvy edges. #DeadpoolIsMySpiritAnimal.
The first gift she got me was a Darth Vader lightsaber. One of the really good ones. She’s been my muse, my soulmate, and my counselor.
I wish I could have met her earlier in my life, but if watching entirely too much science fiction has taught me anything, it’s that time travel is generally bad, and not having our son Glenn in the world would probably rip a hole in the space-time continuum.
Enjoy yourselves, my friends. These moments in time will never come again.
Your writing keeps me wanting more. 💕