As we begin on our journey we feel the importance of sharing our individual and collective histories. We would like to share with everyone the paths that have brought us to where we are today.
How do I begin such a personal story? My first real recollection of my shift from being a healthy, slender, and happy child was when I was 8 years old. My great uncle was visiting from Tennessee and decided to teach me how to "play cards" only he wasn't playing cards, he was putting his hand up my shirt. His visit was brief and I was silent as to what had happened. I began to seclude myself from everyone and quit participating in the activities I loved. When I graduated from high school I went away to college and started coming out of my shell I had created. I started exercising and trying to be healthier. My mom had a stroke a year later and I was forced to return home to care for her for a couple of years before returning to school. I cycled through seclusion and attempts to overcome my past. After returning to school for a short time I moved to Utah to live with my dad and my stepmom. I met a young man who betrayed my trust as he raped me on our first date. Life again became a jumbled up mess and once again I started gaining weight. A few years later I was in a roll over car accident. I was partially ejected out of the back passenger's side window and the car tipped over and landed on my back. I was able to walk out of the hospital that night but have had problems with my back ever since. In August of 2011 I graduated with my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and moved to Pinon, Arizona where I taught 4th grade. While there I became friends with an amazing family who later introduced me to their son who was going through a divorce. I was dating someone at the time so wasn't entirely sure about the situation. One day I received a phone call asking me to contact Josh because he needed a friend to talk to. That conversation changed my life. Over the next few weeks I fell in love more deeply than I thought possible in such a short amount of time. I left Utah to visit Josh and while I was there things got even more complicated. Josh ended up in the hospital and I felt very strongly that I needed to be there to see him every day. A few weeks after he got out of the hospital we ended up moving to Lakewood, WA. We are now planning our wedding for July 20, 2013. (Yes, this is the fast forward version of our relationship.)
Performing has always been in my blood. When I was 12 I started working in a radio station in Utah. When I was 17 I was founding the PTV Club in Pinon, Arizona. This I feel is an important place, dear reader, that I began to suspect I was special, years later I would be diagnosed with "Bi-Polar Disorder." I began in college to investigate radio further but also stand up comedy. I worked in the well known Trolley Square live. I performed several times at, "Wiseguys" comedy club in West Valley, Utah. On 9-11 I joined the Army and was deployed to Korea, where I continued to do stand up. This did not last long as I was often pulled off stage or met silent crowds. I thought I was not good, so I quit. Instead, I served in the ARMY and worked as a Wrestler on the weekends. Unfortunately, I injured my back falling off a truck. I was discharged and I quit taking care of myself. I wouldn't shower or brush my teeth. I shaved my head because it was easier. I ended up getting a divorce, my wife couldn't take it anymore. I left and went to Arizona. In Arizona I met my soon to be wife but we didn't know it. I moved from Pinon to Mesa to go to Film school, and had a break in reality. I went to the VA hospital. I paced the floors, watched the Olympics, and everyday, to meet me for my 4:20 break was, Christina. She should have been in Salt Lake but she was there. I got out of the hospital and felt a change in the wind. Shortly thereafter we moved to Lakewood, WA together. I weigh 260, all in my stomach, which has hurt an already injured back. With 3 days till we start the DDP yoga program. I look forward to making my life better with my 40 day goals. And I look forward to getting back up on stage.
