My family did it's best to ensure that I was always well fed, bathed and clothed. We had very little. I often think about just how impossible it must have been for my grandparents and my teenage single mother to deal with that task. As I remember it, there was always at least nine or ten of us living as a family unit. My father was a teenager himself and naturally when two teens became parents back then, if they did not marry - then blame, shame, embarrassment, anger and denial was not so out of the question. Ironically my parents' parents were unable or unwilling to get along and I grew up with two different families. Loved by each and blessed with grandmothers that built my core confidence and self.

We moved around quite a bit due to economic disparity. I can not count how many different communities we moved into around Baltimore, but I remember that I always made friends and had a lot of fun. My mom never lets me forget how imaginative I was as a child. Making up stories about trolls or ants being behind the cause of me not eating my food or destroying something. You know, being a kid. I had a fun childhood. My uncles and aunts were always there when my mom or grandmothers were not available to entertain me - and I demanded entertainment.

About the age of five is when I can remember things taking shape in my life. We lived on Dru Hill Avenue and down the street we two classmates that seemed to have every Superhero Action Figure a kid could dream of. I had a few, but Evil Knievel and the Six Million Dollar man were more my type of heroes.

By the time I was eight we had moved to Ridgewood Ave., where I truly grew up and remained until an adult. The first week I moved there I made both friends and enemies, but eventually we all became friends. I was also a big brother now. I so wanted to be a big brother and I could not get enough of my brother Joe. I hated to have him around sometimes but when we had fun, it was, and is, something that still makes me smile and laugh aloud. When my second brother came along, James, he was like a living shadow. We all shared friends and looked out for one another. It was like being in a gang, but without the drugs and violence. I learned so much from those guys on that block and I don't think I have ever told any of them that I love them and miss them all the time.

I was a handful as a student! I was always told that I had a great deal of potential, a word used when expectations were not expected to be realized. I did have one or two teachers every year that engaged me to challenge the world around me. I later discovered that other teachers found that challenging anything led to them feeling inadequate.

I excelled in school and was often in advanced classes. I recall particularly a program called G.A.T.E. It stood for Gifted and Talented Education Program. As students, we were expected to take seriously the privilege to take courses targeted for older and smarter pupils. What they forgot to tell you was that you instantly learned to kick-but or get but kicked - literally.

I played the Violin of all things as a child. That in itself was a culture shock of the first kind. My violin teacher had to have been an angel because I for the life of me would have never continued to take interest if she had not earnestly helped me during those after school hours.

When I entered high school that all came to an end. The school had a music program but we had to hock the violin to get this stuff called food. It was a worthy sacrifice. This brought about my second culture shock. I attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. And no one told me that there would be a mixed school. I had always attended schools that were made up of those who had a similar background as myself and had not much exposure to other cultures in an educational environment. As a ninth grader, all of us were learning a new cultural experience via osmosis. I will say this - not once during that first year did race ever become a problem. BPI was very different from the regional all-black schools that the friends I grew up with were attending. As a result, we began to drift apart. However, at BPI I wasted no time and decided to go out for the wrestling team - and made Junior Varsity. I only weighed about 80lbs and was 4ft 7in. Yes, I was small in every manner of the word. I had only one match during the season and it lasted all but 30 seconds. I was pinned liked a wet cloth and it devastated me. But I thanked the coach for the chance and honor to be allowed to compete.

They say that high school is where you find out just what you are made of and where you are headed in life. I found out that cutting class and going to the mall could coexist with being a b+ student. And my friends were eager to show me the way. I was academically engaged, athletic, member of the Audio-Visual club, helped and performed in staged shows. But what I remember most are the girls of Western High School. An all-girl high school adjoined to BPI with a shared cafeteria, auditorium, and gymnasium. Sweeeeeeet! Somewhere in the mix of this I became involved with a program called Junior Achievement. A program that allowed youths, under the guidelines and supervision of a business sponsor, to start their own mock company with elected officials, stock, budget, business plan and product/service. Each year that I participated, I learned so much about business and mentors in the business world.

I think my high school years were average in retrospect. I was bullied no more or less than others. Stayed drug free in a crack crazed America. Survived being black when 20%+ of black males were either killed, jailed or failed out of school during the 80's. I thank my mom and grandmothers for letting me know I was too special to throw my life away or live without goals. I feared them more than Jesus, and never once saw any of them not speak out against self-destruction. Another major factor that kept me off the streets was joining the Police Explorers. It was like the Boy Scouts for teenagers run by the Baltimore City Police Department. Those officer instilled a great deal of respect for those who serve and protect. They we all honorable men faced with challenging tasks.

I attended my high school prom with my best friend (still after 23 years) who was my first true unattainable love (see Breakfast Club/ Pretty in Pink/ Better Off Dead/ Ferris Bueller's Day Off/ Say Anything/ Purple Rain).

I graduated in 1986 with full honors in the B academic program and had a perfect attendance record for my senior year. I promised my mom I would go to school every single day as a senior when I got caught the year earlier. I think I surprised her when I never missed a day for a whole year. I made a promise, and I pride myself on never breaking one (this could definitely be argued by others, especially my wife).