I Found Myself by Traveling the World
Exploring the planet offered me renewal and growth
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I was born into abominable circumstances in which mere survival was a daily struggle. My mother’s untreated paranoid schizophrenia catapulted her into violence and ineptitude. The chronic infidelity and cruel derision inflicted by my father galvanized a rage in my mother that culminated in assaults with hammers and knives. Eventually he bolted, leaving my sister and I to fend for ourselves with an out of control psychotic parent. He wasn’t all that sane himself and he most definitely lacked a moral compass. Truth be told, my sister and I only had each other to rely on. I was three years old and she was ten.
The apartment became infested with garbage and exotic strains of bacterium and insects. Whatever food we had was caked in mold. The conditions were abysmal and there was no escape. I and my older sister were held captive for weeks, sometimes months at a time. I remember us daring to sneak out to get fresh air in a nearby park. I watched helplessly as my sister endured a vicious beating for that infraction.
My family exemplified a dysfunctional, toxic ecosystem on the verge of collapse. By the time my mother was institutionalized my…
