My Life is broken up like chapters in a book. Each chapter corresponds to a place I was living.
The major chapters are Wilmington, NC; Cary, NC; Kenner, LA; Medford, NJ; Germantown, TN; and Knoxville, TN. Some of the chapters have significant subsections.
Wilmington, NC – Initiation
I was born at 7:08am on October 24, 1969 at New Hanover Hospital in Hanover County, Wilmington, North Carolina. I was the first child in the family so I came at any time. My parents lived in an efficiency over someone’s garage until I was nearly 3. At that time the termites dropping into my crib combined with the expectant arrival of my brother prompted a move to a house my grandfather rented to my parents. Of all places, we lived on Park Avenue!
Wilmington is a beautiful city that today only sports a citizenship of 60,000. It reminds me still of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. The roads have large medians lined with moss covered trees which give the streets the appearance that you are driving through tunnels with sunbeams for lights. Many of the streets have an appearance similar to what you would see in a movie about the old south. Behind the houses runs a gravel alleyway for trash pickup and many houses have their garage access from behind the house to give the front a cleaner appearance.
My oldest memory is of the playground across the street from the efficiency. I simply remember being on the swings on a sunny day. I also remember our orange cat and if I am told the story correctly when my brother was born the cat found a new home at the docks.
I was in the efficiency from birth to roughly the age of 3. We stayed in the rented house from 3 to 6 (maybe approaching 7). My character, that would define the choices I would make in my life, first began developing in the rented house. Our next neighbor, Spy Farmer, was a Grand Dragon in the KKK. He was a wonderful person by my memory and I would have never guessed him to be involved with the KKK. His granddaughter (or was she his daughter?) Kim Farmer and I were cutting clay with cookie cutters. I really liked the small one in the shape of a chicken so I decided to keep it. My first theft at roughly age 5. I had a great moral issue with my action. I didn’t like the feeling of having stolen and I returned the cookie cutter. I walked an honest and righteous path from that day forth.
Cary, NC – Fundamentals
Kenner, LA – Spirituality
Medford, NJ – Lust and Desire
Germantown, TN – Deterioration
Knoxville, TN – Rebirth
