Member-only story
STRANGER THAN FICTION
About Me — Lindy Vogel
I’m an unlikely mother of multitudes
I was born a poor, Asian child.
Sorry, that was inappropriate. I’m neither Asian nor a Steve Martin character. Let me start again.
I was born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Ken, Japan, on a US Naval Base. I’m white. It was the early 1980’s, and at the time of my birth my dad was a Navy Pilot (F-14’s and F-4’s) who was stationed on the USS Midway. My parents are both Michigan natives — my dad from Lansing, my mom born in Manistique — but met in Florida when my dad was in flight school in Pensacola.
When Mom and Dad met, Mom was an emancipated 17-year-old barmaid, a freckled, strawberry-blonde Finn and Norwegian. I owe my life to an extra “L.” Mom narrowly missed winning a college scholarship in a large spelling bee, ironically finishing second by misspelling “fulfill.” She met Dad, instead.
Mom been abused and neglected by her parents, both alcoholics, and had lived with a friend for several years as a teen. She wanted to be cared about.