When I was younger I had a family next to my home that I used to visit most days on my walk home from school or getting the mail. For years they would be my second family for about an hour or two a day and I never could forget them. You see I was quite young and they were all middle age or much older, but they entertained me while we played cards or just talked about our days. What they didn’t know was they gave me a safe place to avoid going home to an abusive home. For years I could laugh and be normal for a few hours out of my day. Six years this was routine and I watched as my self adopted uncles and grandparents underwent a change. I watched as my “uncle” Bernie lost weight and the genuine laughter came less often. But my adopted family always welcomed me and we spent even those times in the best of cheer. Bernie withered away in just a few short months and was gone. I was about 12 and attended his funeral. I heard he died of aids and didn’t understand what that ment till years later. It was my first encounter of losing a loved one. But the thing that got me most is I had an obsession with dragons as a child and he left me this pewter Dragon with a note saying that I will soar someday. I think he knew why I always escaped to his family everyday. I still love dragons, I even picked up a hobby as a professional fire breather and my friends joke about me being a human Dragon by night and a biologist by day. When I came here the story and photos reminded me of those days and what my second family was like and how we supported each other through laughter and love despite the reality of our lives. They got me through some of hardest years of my life and I did find my way through it all. Jamie’s story already had me in tears remembering that time and I was incredibly moved. On a whim I wanted to see what picture Jamie took on my birthday… thank you Jamie, thank you very much.
Monday, June 7, 1982
When I was younger I had a family next to my home that I used to visit most days on my walk home from school or getting the mail. For years they would be my second family for about an hour or two a day and I never could forget them. You see I was quite young and they were all middle age or much older, but they entertained me while we played cards or just talked about our days. What they didn’t know was they gave me a safe place to avoid going home to an abusive home. For years I could laugh and be normal for a few hours out of my day. Six years this was routine and I watched as my self adopted uncles and grandparents underwent a change. I watched as my “uncle” Bernie lost weight and the genuine laughter came less often. But my adopted family always welcomed me and we spent even those times in the best of cheer. Bernie withered away in just a few short months and was gone. I was about 12 and attended his funeral. I heard he died of aids and didn’t understand what that ment till years later. It was my first encounter of losing a loved one. But the thing that got me most is I had an obsession with dragons as a child and he left me this pewter Dragon with a note saying that I will soar someday. I think he knew why I always escaped to his family everyday. I still love dragons, I even picked up a hobby as a professional fire breather and my friends joke about me being a human Dragon by night and a biologist by day. When I came here the story and photos reminded me of those days and what my second family was like and how we supported each other through laughter and love despite the reality of our lives. They got me through some of hardest years of my life and I did find my way through it all. Jamie’s story already had me in tears remembering that time and I was incredibly moved. On a whim I wanted to see what picture Jamie took on my birthday… thank you Jamie, thank you very much.