I guess I'll start at the beginning of my memories. I have memories of many fragments of my life growing up. I also have memories of what my Mom told me. I was a kid that got into mischief throughout all of growing up. My mother told me that when I was was in half day kindergarten; I wouldn't even make it to school even though it was only a block away. I would see a squirrel, follow it till I saw the butterfly, then when the butterfly got away, I'd stop to pick up an interesting stone which I would eventually throw. I'd try climbing the tree with a low limb and sit and watch the birds. My mother would get a call to find out why I wasn't in school and she'd find out that I was still in the tree.
I was very sensitive and was an easy target for the local bullies when I was young. I was picked on and cried easily. I learned very early on that boys that cried were sissies, so I learned to swallow my feelings, and stopped crying over most things. This did take me a lot of time to master, but I mastered it as well as many other things. I had this amazing ability to get involved with learning something and block out any external stimulus. This was a saving grace throughout my schooling. I did however, not have the ability to turn this on or off on command.
