I left my hometown swearing never to come back, never to even mention where I was from. It wasn’t so much the town as that I had no good memories, and no ties that I felt I could call mine. Pretty much the opposite. I was bitter, disappointed, disillusioned with everything my teenhood never was. Never had a friend I felt I could completely trust, never had a friend I really, truly connected with.

I learned later that’s because I connect so much more deeply than almost every other person I’ve ever met. Where others feel quite connected to me, I’m still feeling in a shallow relationship, lonely. David’s slow, gentle way of reaching into my heart transformed me, brought a satisfaction to life that I’d never known before.

I became a Christian. In some ways, this provided further alienation from my roots. It was very hard for my family, and in my youth and foolishness, I was no help making it any easier. I got married and had a baby, all within my nineteenth year on this planet. That was hard for my family too. I had a track record of bad relationship choices — not large numbers, large damage scale. So now, there I was, crazy, religious, knocked up and halfway to eloping. Continue reading →