I was born and raised in Concord, California, along with an old world apple tree my father planted on the day of my birth, March 16, 1990. I have an older sister named Shannon and two loving parents that have always cared for me. They divorced the week before my third birthday, although it never really bothered me much. My Christmas’s were doubled and I was able to go on twice as many vacations. Regardless, I was always very timid as a child and kept very much to myself. I preferred to play My Little Pony with my door shut and would do anything and everything that my sister did. I’m sure that got very annoying for her, but that’s what little sisters were for, right? And besides, I was too shy to voice my own opinion to strangers and she usually had good taste and opinions.
From a very early age, although I am not sure exactly when it started, I was in love with my Uncle Mike. It was a family love, but I was also very infatuated with him. He was a large Jewish man, with a big pot belly, and had a thick, black, curly beard. He was a very funny and always had tricks up his sleeve. He was good with kids and I loved when he would toss me in the air and play airplane with me. When I was three or four I declared my love for him. I told him that I wanted to marry him, and at the time I probably meant it too. I always wanted to be around my Uncle Mike.
Every summer my whole mom’s side of the family would go on a family camping trip. I looked forward to it every year and when I was five we went to Lake Comanche. It was a nice place for camping. The weather was warm and so was the water. There were different islands you could swim to, although at that age I was never allowed to go. But the one thing I hated there was the mud. Some spots were worse than others and I couldn’t stand feeling the mud gush between my toes immediately when I step my foot into the water. It was really bad. There were lots of aqueous plants covered with some sort of algae growing throughout...