Fool's Gold

As I was saying, things were at an all-time high for me but it wasn't always that way. I had always
been the weird kid that read a lot. I used to read anything I got my hands on. I would memorize
those old pro wrestling magazines from cover to cover. I watched the television shows and was
a card carrying member of nice things like HeMan, Ghostbusters, Batman, and the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles. God, I bugged my dad to death so he'd take me the see the live-action movie at the
old Mall Trio at Central Mall and the lines were sooooo long. I had a kindergarten teacher named
Mrs. Woodward and she once filmed my class answering a harmless question like what we wanted to
be when we grew up. Even then, I had to spice things up. Most of the other kids said they wanted to
be lawyers or doctors but I said I wanted to be the ice cream man so that people would always be
smiling when they seen me approaching. :P

I had an uncommon vocabulary thanks to those wonderful wrestling mags. I had a talent for saying
or trying new words to test their reaction. I took an interest in people. I watched them and studied
them but was often too shy to actually talk to them. I took notes on body language and usually tried
to copy what I thought worked. I had one girlfriend way back in kindergarten named Megan. She
made me and some guy named Calvin Bailey her co-boyfriends mainly because she didn't have a
mat for sleeping time so I lent her mine. Calvin wound up stealing my Hulk Hogan video game and
she eventually moved away.

Throughout my life, I have always struggled with my weight. I was always husky and having
glasses didn't help either. It's important that you understand that due to me eventually overcoming
it later.

I had a great relationship with my grandfather. Grandma always said I was her's until he stole me
away when he found out I could sing and play instruments. I would stay with them during the
summers due to my parents working all the time. I would hunt crawdeads with Grannie and hang
out with Papa Bud in the garden. He grew up with such a large family so gardening was just
something he loved. He was different. I was used to being yelled at by people but he never raised
his voice to me....never. He would just look at me a certain way or say my name in a noticable
way. When someone tries to tell me what to do, I push back. I don't like being forced to do
something. I get that from my lovely mother. LOL. I have always been wild by nature and would
fight you tooth and nail with an iron will until I got my way. I was such a brat. 

Papa Bud never tried to force me to do anything. I just wanted to make him proud. It was the only
thing I wanted for a long time until my pride took me away from him later on. Fast Forward back to
my senior year in high school. I thought I knew everything and he was just stuck in the old ways of
doing things. It started around this time but really kicked in during the dark times I'll tell you about
very soon. Papa became less and less a factor in my life. I would find little time in my soooo
important schedule for him. I would later rob myself of some of the last years of his life and I did it
all to myself. Years cannot be brought back. Once they are gone, they are gone. That is a lesson I
just couldn't understand at that time. That is why it's so important to me to tell so many people about
him now as I feel that I owe him that much at least....for what I would put him and my whole family
through in the years to come. Oh, but there is light down that tunnel. Papa saved me in the end as
you will see. He keeps saving me everyday.

The only thing I was missing now in my newfound life was a girlfriend. I had finally done it. I had
become popular and funny. People laughed and thought I was handsome. I just needed a girlfriend
to complete the whole picture. I was still overweight so, after my junior year, I went on a crash
diet and lost 54 lbs in 2 and a half months. I was determined to do anything in my power to get
a girlfriend. I took Tae-Bo, I went to Subway, and I ran all day long. I would lock myself in my
room and practise dancing and memorizing Michael Jackson videos....MC Hammer...Dirty Dancing..
....anything so I would be sexy and smooth to win the girl. When I showed back up for senior year,
everyone thought I must have been on meth but it was just my belief that I could do anything I set my mind to. Yep, I warned you that I was a weirdo. *nods* All of this is the absolute truth. Everything I touched seem to turn to gold....but I would later find out it was just fool's gold. Oh, and the girl I was aiming at laughed in my face when I asked her to dance. I learned a painful lesson. The lesson was that sometimes there is nothing you can do to make people like you. You can do everything right but still be horribly wrong. Nothing is for certain in this life. I think that's enough for now. I feel that the stage is set for the big fall.

Hug your loves ones tonight. Don't go to sleep without telling them you love them.


-Thork