Adolescence and early adulthood...

High school. I went to Hazen High in Renton, where I was born and raised. I was on the school paper - that's how I got my start in writing and PR - and band. Here I am marching down the streets of Renton. If you look at the original photo you'll see that no one is watching the parade. And we're not playing either. And what's with that hat? Surplus from the Wicked Witch of the West's soldiers? I wrote the marching shows while I was there. The director had run out of good ideas so I spent three years coming up with some real doozies. We also played at Expo '74 in Spokane as representatives of Renton (boy does that make me sound old!!!!)

This is me and Tommy "Tortoise" Anderson, my jumpmaster for my first parachute jump. I was 16 at the time. Now that Becca's 16 I can't believe my mother ever gave her permission. What was she thinking? My brother Jon had died a couple years earlier skydiving. Actually, he drowned in the Columbia. So I must have had something to prove. My parachuting career ended on my second jump after I hit the runway hard and fractured my ankle. Shortly after this picture was taken, I fell out of the plane behind me. And Tommy landed in front of my mother and her friend in the grandstand - stark naked.

My start as an entertainer. This is your Uncle Jeff and Brian. You won't see any of them. We haven't talked since 1985 or so. Long story. But suffice it to say that we didn't get along and I was always rebelling. As you can see, I couldn't even wear the same color shirt for the photo. The first time I sang in public I was so drunk I blacked out midway through the first song. Such is stage fright at 22 years old.

Shortly after graduating from the University of Washington, Rebecca Marie -- your older sister -- was born. I won't mention her mom here, she'd take up too much space (really, I mean it). The only thing good about getting married to what's her name was the birth of Becca. She's a cool kid and moved in with us in 1996. That's your great grandma next to Becca. She likes to be called Gram. We're trying to get her to move over here to take care of you. We'll see...

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