I’m situated within the spread of eight children precisely in the upper middle, and the oldest of four boys. My parents are made from multiple divorces, remarriages, and continued breeding habits. Being the middle child with three problematic siblings as book ends did have advantages. I could leave for days and neither side of parental guardians nor the book ends took notice. My multiplicity of parental figures only greased the squeaky wheels and never the smoothly running hubs in the middle. I suppose they didn’t have to. The long-term effect? I’d like to think I’m a self-starting, self-sufficient, and a good parent, but I’m also biased in opinion. Raised mostly in the back country of Montana. At one point, I attended a school slightly larger than one room. My education, mostly, came from very diminutive resources that included hundreds of past due public and school library books with Scholastic Book fairs as an occasional carrot.None of the parents had anchors for any employment currents they floated upon, not while I was a kid. Nor was I a model student, possibly because of all the moving and instability; but I really don’t believe that. Anyways, ten different schools that I remember can be associated with my attendance, before three high schools in three states. All those schools devoted to my youth in some way and believe me, I wouldn’t change a thing; although, I, like everyone else, can’t help wondering what might have been? But also like most, I’m over it. During my youth, I never lacked anything that I did not learn to acquire. Food, shelter, cars, I found each obtainable. From the time I was twelve I worked, by lying about my age. Doing so seemed obvious since that seemed my place, a worker bee meant to serve the hive. But along the way, somehow, memorable teachers reached out and pointed me towards something else, something I would have to reconcile to become an adult, me.Public school teachers. Not all of them disliked my filthy, non-ironed and ragged clothing sight enough to not say “Tim” you’re going to do great! A few sacrificed their daily norms and influenced me greatly. They demonstrated compassion even though not paid to do so. In fact, a few of them wasted enough of their time with the new kid to make the positive, life-long impressions this kid needed, and those impressions accumulated. It was somewhere in one of the many middle schools a science teacher recommended that I begin keeping a journal. It allowed me to record ideas and concepts then research them later. It forced me to become experienced with problem solving and research. It also provided an opportunity to write about anything, fiction, or nonfiction. Today, the ideas don’t come as fast but the journals I’ve kept still produce stuff I love to work on. I do admit most of my journal topics perish to research but not all. Somewhere in my senior year all those good impressions coupled into a shockingly good SAT score. Yes, I had studied for it. Even scraping enough money to buy a good guidebook. Problem being, it was late in the teenager game and I had absolutely no hope whatsoever to pay for college. Worse yet, I did not have money enough for the application fees. So, I did what anybody trying to break out of a social caste does, I took the only, desperate option available. I took their tests, did well again, picked my job, and began thinking about volunteering in the U.S. Army. That took months to decide. Meanwhile, I was bagging groceries, repairing cars, and cutting grass before I finally put down my baseball and glove, a small group of friends, and joined. Man did I like it. Three meals a day, exercise, and very interesting people to work around. Oh sure, it had many downsides like the very interesting people to work around; but my first few years in the military were all upside. But all good things end as maturity takes hold. With political disappointments continuing to kill the hapless, even today, I was done, and after full filling my ten-year agreement, honorably discharged, and empowered to enter a new vocation I moved on, happily. The next several years, I spent the old GI bill, taught non-credited classes, tutored, worked for myself, attempted to help a greedy father who ultimately stole from me to support his wine, woman, and song lifestyle. I did manage a four point oh academic scholarship and then an internship. So, one student loan for two thousand dollars and change, absolutely nothing mention-able from my parents, my spouse supporting us, and, I’m very, very proud to have earned my Engineering degree with honors and moved forward into the here and now. Wife and kids and my first professional job all stuck well to my campaign of achieving adulthood in Oregon. I guess it was in Central Texas and during college that all started to go well. The short version of this bio; well that’s easily summarized. Raised free range as a middle child. Thanks to public school teachers, I survived the peer pressure predators and eventually escaped the repeat offenders and a flock of wild siblings. I survived again, this time, the politician driven Army’s attempt to find a place for me to die. But I grew some wisdom from the better Army experiences. So, both good and bad had matured me. Eventually, the young man shaped into academics and the beginnings of a family. So now as an adult, I’m a father who’s all grown-up and living the outdoor dream of an Oregonian. A man full enough of himself to believe he is righteous in words and act. A nonfictional author who wants to tell his fictional story’s too; Hmmm, maybe writing a fictional story could be a self-prescribed therapy for having to share the nonfictional news forced upon me? Read more about this authorRead less about this author