It is late. I have just spent an hour contemplating my beginings. I don’t know why... but I am compelled to write this down.

Who made me?

A natural mother and father gave me the genetic influences I cannot get away from. My mother gave birth to me. A first separation.

A foster mother who loved me dearly while I was still only six months old.

Adopted parents who put up with my crying all the way home to get me to Dr. Mayes who discoverd I had an ear infection.

With Mama and Daddy came grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, particularly grandparents who loved me because I was... not because of anything I did.

The death of my grandfather when I was 2.

The death of my father when I was 7.

The marriage of my mother to Bill when I was 8.

The addition of Bill’s brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins to me.

Bill’s adoption of me when I was 14.

The death of my grandmother when I was 30.

Church nursery keepers. Mae was as much a mother as Mama.

Play school and kindergarten teachers... I cannot forget Mrs. Milwood.

Teachers: Mrs. Crumbley, Mrs. Atwater, Mrs. Hobbs, Mrs. Haygood, Mrs. Berg, Miss Crawford, Mrs. Williamson, Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Painter, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Hinesley, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Faulkner, Sgt. Sapp, Mr. Tomlinson, Dr. Rice, Mrs. Staples, Mr. Shippey, Dr. Hornsby, Dr. Ed, Dr. Garcia.

Camp counselors at Cotton Harrison’s, at Camp Carolina.

Fellow students: Robin Harrison, Dotty Moody, Tammy Etheridge, Mike Watson, Rand Park, Rob Anderson, Paige Davis, Jenny Jensen, Mike Simonton, Debbie Gilland, Debbie Innes, Donna Mize, Tara Goff, Emily, Craig Deitman, Matt Brumwell, Rusty Bennett, Scott Wilson, Ernest Taylor, Lisa Brantley, Kimberlia Hood, Jennifer Budney, Jamie Jones, Owen Edge, John Dreisbach, Steven Brown, Hiroshi Yokoyama, Stephanie Stoneking, Susan Bush.

Co-workers: Joey Darsey, Susan Johnson, Ron Carson, Stephanie Hargrove, Roger McAfee.

Students: Luke Delezene, Patrick Taylor, Tim Story, Jarred Stuckey, Trae Kemp, Brannon Brewer, Brooke Gettys.

These are the people and the events that shaped me... maybe this is what I am.