There are times in everyone’s life in which they can look back upon and see as a turning point. These may be good times. They may be bad times. Sometimes it happens all at once, BAM, POW, and you’re a different person. In other cases life comes at you a little more gradually and you might not even recognize that something is different. Something about you, or how people see you, or maybe even both. I have several of these moments in my life, but one particular summer really did a number on who I am.

I come from a large family. My father was one of fourteen children, ten boys, 4 girls. Grandpa was an alcoholic, a trait passed down to most of his kids. Grandma seamed to be beaten down emotionally by him most of her life, but always remained the most she could be for her kids. Sometimes to a fault. My grandmother had two sets of twin, one right after another some 15 months apart. My father was one half of a fraternal set of twins, grandma’s first set. Growing up our family was everything. My aunts and uncles meant a lot to my father. Looking back I think my fathers willingness to do anything for his siblings was a root cause of my parents divorce. As a small child it seamed like we always had one of them living with us, or asking my parents for money. Even though dad was technically child number six, he was and still is the patriarch of the family. Childhood vacations were spent traveling to see a family member. I could count on a trip to Alabama to visit my grandparents, or a trip to Nebraska to visit and uncle and his family. The fourth of July was always spent at my aunts on the lake, Christmas changed locations depending on who wanted to host. Summer parties at my house were epic. I grew up in a small Michigan town, the same town as my father, in the same house as he grew up in. When we threw a party, I guess you could say, the whole town showed up. Of course our family had its moments. There was the standard family bickering that most families have. Someone drank to much, or married someone others might not approve of. Maybe they lived a lifestyle the rest of the family did not understand. None of this mattered, because several years after the pinnacle of my family’s existence everything blew up in our face, in my face.