Background Story

My mother’s carefree childhood was cut short at age five. Her father, who had been in a mining accident a few years before had struggled with depression and hopelessness. He was unable to provide for his family as he had before the accident. He felt useless and lost. During this time, people didn’t talk about their troubles and personal deficiencies. Therefore, he had no outlet, no way to express the pain that he felt inside. So he took his own life instead. He did so, in such a violent, finalizing manner. The wound from the gunshot to the head didn’t kill him instantly. Instead, his two eldest sons found him alive. He died later that evening. In those days, no one discussed death, especially suicide. My mom was not told what had happened to her father, how he had vanished from their lives so suddenly. She knew that he had died, but what was death? She and her younger brothers were just left to wonder where their dad had gone. The bullet hole in her father’s head could have been a bullet hole to her own heart. This was a hole that no one could fix. If you look close enough, you can see the hole in that picture–the one from first grade–the one of the little girl with the sad eyes.



Those sad eyes carried her through elementary school, into middle school and even through high school. She became involved in lots of school activities. My mother was a cheerleader, a popular student, a good girl, and everyone liked her. Even though she seemed like a happy, well-adjusted teenage girl, she felt different. Her family was not only poor, they were poverty stricken. They had a home, they had each other, they had just enough food, but like the rumbling of an empty stomach, she felt as though something was missing. She was lonely, as she fought to find the meaning of her life. As her mother and older brothers struggled and worked hard just to put food on the table, Nancy worked just as hard to be good so that no one would reject her, so that no one would ever leave her again.



My dad on the other hand was born into a family with money. They were not wealthy by any standards, but they lived a secure life, lacking none of the basic comforts. His father was a coal miner and eventually the mine supervisor. He had two adult brothers and two elder sisters. His mother was older when she had him, and he knew from the start that he was an “accident." His oldest sister actually had children his age. His dad was busy at work. His mother didn’t spend much time with him, so when she became frustrated with his behavior, she would simply throw a shoe at him. His brothers and sisters will tell you that he was “bad.” He will tell you that oftentimes he was lonely, misunderstood, hurt, and eventually angry.


On left: David as a boy. On right: David's mother holding his nephews in her arms, as David shields his eyes from the sun

At times he felt as though he didn’t exist. Although his teachers believed that he lacked the ability to achieve in school, my dad had an amazing mind. He was able to fantasize about a world of adventure. He would go into his bedroom, hide under the covers and dream of traveling around the world, flying to exotic places, riding with cowboys through the wild west, or exploring underground caverns and lost worlds. He was a daydreamer. Thus, he was not a good student, the opposite of my mom. Everyone knew when the two began dating, they were an unlikely pair, and the romance would never last.

Her brothers tried to talk her out of dating him. They threatened him and attempted to scare him away. He drank, smoked, and swore; he hung out with the "wrong" crowd. He was termed a “spoiled brat” with a jail sentence just waiting in the winds of the future.



Regardless of the predictions made about them, they proved each foretelling of their future wrong. Life played a joke on all of the naysayers, and this unlikely pair went above and beyond anyone’s expectations.

To hear the rest of the story, you must check back often, as the tale unfolds, within this blog. Oh, and tell all of your friends too! Happy reading. Comments welcome.

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