I grew up in Houston, Texas and lived at the same address with the same parents for over 18 years until I moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. Memorial Park sat directly across the street from our 900 square foot, 4 bedroom/1 bathroom bungalow (according to the realtors who later handled the estate) I remember the days of walking out our front door, through the gate in our chain link fence and crossing the street into my "front yard,” almost 1,500 acres of land filled with pine trees, playgrounds, swimming pools, and softball fields. I grew up knowing all the families on our street and most families in our neighborhood. The Jurgen family, Ray and Gladys, and their three children, Kevin, Karl, and Kay were our closest friends. Karl and I were the same age and at that time it was taken for granted that he and I would eventually marry. Before we were old enough for school, we spent nearly everyday together while our stay at home mothers either took turns babysitting us or more likely sat together drinking coffee or high balls, gossiping, trading recipes, and talking about the way things used to be. I can clearly remember our mothers being outraged about how it wasn 't even Halloween, but Christmas decorations were already in stores.
From Kindergarten through 8th grade, Karl and I walked to and from elementary
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During our senior year, Karl left a school dance with a girl and that decision led to him to becoming a teen father. Karl married her, bought a house in the same zip code that our families lived, and had three more sons. Although I was ranked in the top 5% of our graduating class, my guidance counselor recommended secretarial school over attending The University of Texas as it was the more realistic choice. Against his advice and with little support from my family and friends, I left behind all that I knew and never once looked back with