As a special day in my life, today being my birthday, I have thought about some of the events that have occured in my life that have made me, well, me.
Here is a summation of my life thus far, all 27 years of it.
October 25th, 1980 - I was born at the Bloomington Hospital. I have heard stories how I was trouble from the word go, as I was a breech baby.
Summer 1985 - I ran away from a daycare center and walked a couple of miles down 3rd street to The Crescent Doughnut Shop. After having some doughnut holes and a sprite on the house, I was taken back to the center by Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputies. My family was upset, but I got to ride in a police car. The main thing I remember is what I was singing in my head on that hot day, “On the road again,” by Willie Nelson. The Herald-Telephone, now called The Herald-Times had a story about the situation which mentioned new fangled tracking devices for kids at the time, it’s currently used for pets.
Summer 1986 - A hearing-impaired neighbor told my dad about me stealing a cigarette from his truck. So I rode my bike all the way to my memma’s house, which was almost a 10 mile ride. Not bad for a 5 year old.
Labor Day 1987 - My just divorced father marries Kathy Howe. This starts a period of darkness for me. I become a bully in school. She physiclly and mentally abuses me, even wants to charge me rent to live in “her” home. It all culminates in 1992 with an altercation with a rifle, she threatened to shoot me and I dared her. Just as I was trying to remove the weapon from her hands my father showed up and held me down to calm down the situation. I immediately moved in with my mother, who had been in Lubbock, Texas for several years.
October 1992 - I bring a BB gun to Templeton Elementary School with plans to at least hurt everyone in the 6th grade class, and the principal. After making it on the grounds I chickened out and hid it in a bush. The BB gun was found and I was expelled and put on probation. I was passed on to 7th grade with only 2 months of 6th grade education.
1993 - 1995 - Those were very trying years for me. I learned to appreciate many things we all take for granted. Most of the time I didn’t know where I would sleep for the evening. My mom’s husband was on the run from the law and I was abandoned in a trailer by Lake Monroe. I did not have any electricty, running water or heat. Sometimes I ate, sometimes I didn’t. Once I got a hold of my father, things got better.
1996 - In the middle of the night I stole my mothers car (which was soon to by mine when I received my license), and her money, packed my clothes and took off. My destination, Round Rock, Texas. I was on-line, a new and expensive thing at that time. I met a girl via a BBS named Metropolis. She and I talked for hours upon hours, on the computer and on the phone. Her username was “Swisser.” Everyone had thought I drove to Valpo to see another girl, but that was just a ploy. After driving 20 hours straight due to an error on my part, I ended up at my aunt Beth’s house in Westville, Oklahoma. She immediately called my dad. They decided that I stay with my grandfather until something could be worked out. I spent a week with him, and I will always cherish that time I had with him. I was the only grandchild he really knew. He passed away in 2000.
November 1996 - I have a seizure while bagging groceries at the westside Kroger. Later that month after a battery of tests, I’m diagnosed with epilepsy. I don’t realize for years what responsibilities this condition carries.
October 1997 - I drop out of high school for good. After being bounced around the 3 high schools in the county, I was lost. The same day I dropped out, I took the General Education Diploma test. After nervously waiting, I passed and received my GED. I only went to high school 1 and a half years.
November 1997 - One month after purchasing a 1992 Dodge Daytona, I totalled it and shut down Highway 37 for 4 hours by running it into a propane tank at an estimated speed of 60mph. I was unconscious almost from the time I left my home in Ellettsville to after the collision. Fortunately I was unharmed. This collision makes me reconsider driving with my condition. It also shoots my insurance rates to over $1000 every 6 months. It is now affordable, only 10 years later.
August 26, 1999 - I become a father! Weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces, Taylor Marie Nicole Lawmaster is born. Two years later, her mother and I split up. As an afterthought, my daughters’ own name was a sign. We couldn’t agree on a middle name, so she has 2. Her mother wanted Marie, and I wanted Nicole.
2001 - Life is coming more into focus. I start a job I have been applying to for 3 years, Baxter. I thought I would work their until I retired but was canned after 5 years. I also meet someone very special, Rachel Christine Lee. I didn’t know or even think at that moment, but she would soon enough be my wife. We also met on-line.
2002 - Rachel and I move in together on Valentine’s day. We start with nothing, not even a bed. Eventually our apartment is overflowing with the love we have for each other and furnishings.
2004 - After years of almost no control of my seizures, I have a VNS (Vagal Nerve Stimulator) implanted. It eventually works better than any medication I have ever taken at controlling seizures. I also get married at the First Baptist Church in Bedford, Indiana. The same church where my parents were married in 1981.
2006 - Rachel and I become homeowners. It’s an ongoing adventure that I can’t get enough of. Three months later I become unemployed, which scares the bejesus out of us. This starts a period of unknown for the both of us, when will it end? I really don’t know.
2007 - I started a new job at IU, which might open some doors for me.
Here’s my history, what’s yours?
