Where I am Coming From

If I am going to tell the story of where I am coming from, I guess it makes sense to start from the beginning.  My earliest memories are from around age two, and all relatively vague.  I lived in a townhouse with my parents until I was two and a half, and I remember that location, as well as the neighbors, and that the girl across the street was my age.  I had a series of different people who used to take care of me at home, while my parents were working.  And Taco Bell was the only fast food restaurant that we were allowed to go to, on the rare occasion.

Both sets of my grandparents lived about two hours away, in the Bay Area and the Central Valley, and their houses were my favorite places on earth to visit.  That happened fairly frequently, when my parents were traveling, or wanted a weekend off.  My uncles were usually around, and I did all sorts of things with them, from ride go-carts and motorcycles, to play chess in the evenings.  We took a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my extended family when I was two, which I have faint recollections of.  The big changes that took place in that period that affected the rest of my life: were moving to a house outside of town, and my brother joining the family when I was three and a half.  At that point my mom reduced her work schedule to part time for the rest of her career at the high school.

I have no real recollections of my brother and I ever really getting along.  I usually acted older than I was, while he usually acted younger, which increased the gap.  I had grown up without him for long enough that I was perfectly capable of entertaining myself all alone, while even today he appears unable to do that.  But he was always big for his age, and I was not, so while he was never taller than me until college, we were similar in height much of the time.  And he probably usually out-weighed me, but I didn't let that deter me from being in charge.

My Dad still lives in that house we moved to, and it was the primary environment that I grew up in.  Much of my summers were spend watering the extensive gardens, or removing fallen fruit from the orchard.  Pruned branches provided source material for forts, swords, guns, or anything else we could think of.  A steep driveway with a tight turn at the bottom led to all sorts of creative ways to get injured.  The most unique feature is probably the large finished shed in the back, which contained our extensive collection of Legos.

Legos were my favorite things to play with growing up.  I remember getting my first set when I was about three, and my first castle set from my grandmother at age four, and a pirate ship from her when I was five.  By the time I was six, I had sets with gears and motors, and was building all sorts of things.  Our collection continued to expand, usually courtesy of my grandmother, and provided source material for many school assignments, science projects, and other endeavors.  Even in college I used them for making videos.  And someday my kids will play with them as well.