I was born in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. My parents were missionaries in that country, my father having spent 26 years there and my mother 6. Fortunately, my dad was blessed with excellent hair. My mom also had good genetics in this area and had extremely thick hair. Even later in life, they were spared the ravages of hair loss.
I was only 15 months old when my parents had to return to the United States to care for their elderly parents so I remember nothing of my African roots. I grew up in eastern Massachusetts. I have many fond memories of activites associated with living in this area. I especially enjoyed yearly camping trips to the White Mountains with my father.
Being the son of religiously devout parents had a profound impact on my formative years. I was taught to keep thinking of the future and that the present is just a transitory state, a prelude to a much happier time. This shaped many decisions because having possessions or prominence in this present life was seen as secondary to living in such a way now so as to qualify for future happiness in what would be a changed world brought about by God. So while my classmates were busy engaging in typical extracurricular high school activities or planning their continued education, I was encouraged to refrain from doing so. It was kind of ironic because I took all the courses that would normally lead one to enrolling in college but upon graduating from high school, I didn't pursue any further education at that point.
I took some cleaning jobs and even did some handyman type of work despite hating every minute of that job. This type of employment allowed me lots of spare time which I used to participate in volunteer work for my congregation. It was during this time I did an intense personal studying of the Bible and was able to build my faith in God. At one point I managed to memorize, word for word, the final eleven chapters of the Bible book of Revelation. I got some satisfaction from the volunteer ministry work but I was also frustrated. I don't think I had the right balance of working on personal achievement in this present life compared to sacrificing things now in pursuit of future blessings.
Things usually have a way of working out and I found this to be true in my case. I took a college accounting course and this enabled me to find more suitable employment. .Around the beginning of 2000 both my parents' cancer which had been in remission returned. The next 2 1/2 years would be very stressful and filled with heartache as I watched them slowly die. They were very courageous through the whole ordeal and kept their faith and dignity despite the suffering.
I have many and varied interests. A listing of these can be found on my livejournal. I spend a lot of time engaged in my three favorite sports: cycling, scuba diving and snowboarding. Road cycling is great for providing stress relief while getting in shape. I've mapped out many picturesque routes ranging from 30-80 miles in the area I live. Scuba diving taps into my adventurous side. Until I got certified in 2004, I had no idea there were so many dive sites along the coast of northern Massachusetts. Boat diving, of course, offers even better opportunities and I enjoy doing these as well.
New England has lots of great hiking. It has been my goal to climb all 4000 foot peaks here. So far I have climbed 36. The remaining ones are harder to reach but I hope to eventually complete them all.
I am a lover of animals. I had a dog, cat and bird growing up. I love dogs but they require a lot of attention that often I'm not able to provide. That is primarily why I have had four cats. Each one is so unique! Two of them, Tiger and John, are indoor/outdoor cats while Kiggy and Lyta are indoors only. Unfortunately, I only have three cats now because John disappeared in October 2005. I let him out one night and he never appeared again. Things are actually more peaceful now amongst the remaining three.
I got married in 1998 but the marriage ended with my divorce in 2006.
I discussed some of my interest in hair in the 'About This Site' link. For some reason, people tend to get pretty worked up about hair length especially on men. This compulsion I have had to grow mine long has been inherent to my being. While a minor, I was not allowed to do so. Upon reaching adulthood, various pressures have kept me from doing so up to this point. I am exercising my freedom to finally fulfill this desire. I don't really expect people to understand this. I get quizzical reactions from most if I try to explain it. In some cases this criticism and opposition has caused some whom I counted as friends to no longer view me as such. I am willing to pay this price. This has been a personal journey of growth for me in ways going far beyond just my hair length. I know that I was a much more judgmental and closed-minded person in the past. My journey of growth has caused me to see the world to a greater degree in shades of gray rather than just in black and white. For now this path feels like the right one and one that had been waiting for me for a long time.
