Growing Up... (Building the Foundation)

So, it's July 15th, 1972. The sleepy little factory town of Kingsport had no idea what was about to hit them. That's right, yours truly was born.

During all of my early years, I was pretty much clueless like the rest. All I really cared about was plenty to eat, a bicycle, and the open road. I miss the innocence and ignorance of early childhood. Have you ever just sat and watched a child play? Makes part of you long to be little again.

Music was a big part of my early years. I had young parents. They listened to rock and roll and Dad even played in a band up until yours truly came along. I could sing along to most anything I heard on the radio. And thanks to those early years, I probably know the lyrics to hundreds and hundreds of songs.

When I was five, my parents divorced. I remember it being really tough to find out my Dad wouldn't be living with us anymore. But things have worked out pretty well down the line. For a long time though, I was one of the only kids I knew who's parents split up. So I always felt I had a stigma, probably self applied. I was smart enough to know I was a statistic and always thought that maybe I wasn't quite like everyone else and didn't have it as good.

To wrap up this foundation building session, I can't go without mentioning my Mamaw. She was easily the biggest influence in my life up until her death when I was 13. She was a wonderful Christian woman and a great witness to her family. She was taken at the early age of 55 by a drunk driver. It was an unbelievably horrible loss. She was the matriarchal figure of family, the glue if you will. She was the one constant in all of our lives.

In the next episode I'll lay a few more layers and then begin to get into what it was like growing up in Kingsport as a county boy...