25 things you didn’t know about me…

My friend Kelly recently watched YouTubers make videos on “25 things you didn’t know about me.” She recommended I do a blog on this subject, suggesting that my readers would enjoy learning tidbits about me. So, I started with a blank page, like beginning with a chunk of clay, theoretically spinning it on a potter’s wheel, molding it into ideas. I feverishly scraped the edge of the clay with a wooden tool that put squiggles into the medium to give interpretations of goals. Finally, I added a glaze to seal in all the adjectives and nouns to make this bowl of paragraphs enjoyable for your viewing pleasure. 

1. They held me back in the third grade because they learned I had dyslexia.
2. Throughout my middle school years, I played the clarinet.
3. My life from 11 to 18 years old was a very active Boy Scout troop.
4. At 13, I returned home from a Boy Scout camping trip to an empty, locked house as my parents had moved without telling me. I waited problematically perplexed for an hour before someone thankfully came and got me.
5. I worked at a Boy Scout summer camp starting at 14 for five of the most incredible summers of my life. If money was no object, I could have worked there for decades.
6. From 11 to 18, I was an avid bicycle rider who rode bikes with my best friend, Mike, all over town. I could have ridden like that for decades if time was no object.
7. I have always loved Mother Nature, and at 15, I chose to go backpacking in the Rocky Mountains for twelve days over going to Disney World.
8. I became an Eagle Scout at 17 after an 8-year Boy Scout adventure.
9. One month after High School, I got married.
10. At 19, immediately after high school and freshly married, I shipped off to boot camp for the United States Marine Corps.
11. My job in the Marine Corps was Logistics, Land Support Battalion, AKA Supply for those at the front line.
12. After college, I hopped around working at several different engineering firms until my illness reared its ugly head.
13. I spent one month in Greece living lavita loca like the locals after my Marine Corps discharge.
14. I have only lived in an apartment twice, once for four months before moving into base housing and the other for one year in my hometown.
15. At 25, I bought my first house in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
16. One year before my diagnosis at the ripe old age of 26, my wife and I having no children, divorced after six outstanding years of marriage and one not-so-good.
17. Three months after learning to swim without using my legs, I swam 8 miles to raise money for the MSAA.
18. I am a human garbage disposer who will eat any food except grapefruit.
19. As a foodie, I love trying exciting new foods. My motto is “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
20. I love all music from Beethoven to the Beastie Boys, BB King to Elvis the King, and everything in between.
21. I am an introvert, meaning I will not start a conversation with a stranger, but I will talk to you if you start a conversation with me.
22. I love to sing, although I feel I cannot carry a tune.
23. Learning is a hobby, and I watch educational YouTube videos to help with that goal.
24. Making people laugh is a passion of mine. As they say, “If you’re not laughing, you’re crying,” and who wants to cry? 
25. I hate confrontation but refuse to back down and keep my mouth shut, which would keep me out of trouble.

Now you know I am faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. My parents sent me to Earth before my home planet, Krypton, was destroyed and all its inhabitants perished. My earth parents gave me a vast sampling of experiences that made me the well-spoken, good-natured person I am today. Yes, my parents from this planet occasionally messed up, but what earthling has particularly perfect parents?

To know me is to love me.