Autobiography
My name is Michael Smith and I was born on the 30th of August, 1967 in Long Beach,
California. My parents were Eddie Smith and Joan Smith. Both of my parents are deceased.
My mom died at the age of 57 in 1994 from lung cancer which was the result of smoking her
whole lifetime. My father died at the age of 69 in 2006 from a massive heart attack, which was
also the likely result from a lifetime of smoking. Fortunately I have been smart enough to avoid
that bad habit.
My early childhood was a typical middle class environment circa the 1960's. My dad
worked for Simpson Buick as a parts salesman and my mom was a stay at home mother. I had a
happy, normal childhood as an only child, leaving me somewhat spoiled. My mom and dad
divorced when I was eight years old and both remarried within a year or so of the divorce. My
dad remained married to my stepmom Bev until his death. My mom would marry two more
times. My first stepdad Vince became a big part of my life and I maintained close contact with
him until his death in 2006, two days after my real dad died. Yes, that was a very bad week,
losing both of my dads.
Growing up with split parents was not especially difficult since each of my parents kept
me out of their divorce and they got along fine at events where both of them were present. I
lived with my mom until I was 16 and in high school. By my sophomore year in high school I
had begun to hang around with friends that got me into a lot of trouble with a number of things
including smoking pot and drinking. I was rapidly heading down a negative path, but was
fortunate enough to notice it before I had done any serious damage. I moved in with my dad and
changed high schools and friends.
With the fresh start I was able to finish high school without further incident, graduating
from Downey High School in 1985. Even with my questionable behavior earlier in my life I had
always wanted to become a police officer, which I could not do...