Online since June 1997!

The Teenage Years

I was always a smart kid, skinny and shorter than my peers. My voice changed late so I was the target of lots of ridicule in high school and middle school in California. Being smart wasn't cool, either.  My father brought a computer home in 1984 (a TRS-80 Color Computer with a whopping 16K of RAM).  I played the piano by ear for many years, but never got lessons as I asked.

My daughter (left) outside of the house I grew up in (mostly) in Hayward, California January 1996.

To the right and above is me before I grew into my nose.

I was on my way to becoming a competitive roller-skater (I could BEEN somebody!!!  I coulda been a contender!) but my father pulled me out when things were becoming serious (and expensive). Maybe he thought I'd turn out gay like my instructors (can you imagine that?).

Michelle Marie Heilman, the mother of my
child and ex-wife, and me at my Senior Prom in 1986.

Dad, an electronic engineer in the military, brought home a black and white camcorder and VCR years before they were available on the market. I have precious childhood memories recorded through this medium, but many of the films that my parents took of my siblings and me were lost in the heat of some of their arguments.

While in California, I was very close to Snowball, our dog, and loved visiting my grandparents in the Mother Lode country, although I found California in general to be a sad place to have a childhood since, for me, there were not enough children to associate with. I felt isolated and, despite my love of senior citizens, I felt as if I were living in a retirement community. For this reason, my longing for New York City, where I spent some of my formative years, with its hordes of people and culture, compelled me to move back as soon as I could and before my fate as a Californian for life sunk in.

This is a picture of me in high school in 1986. Yes, I was always thin growing up. I began gaining weight as an adult when I was about 20 years old. While I don't desire to be thin, the grass is always greener, is it not?

My senior high school picture. Look at that beautiful head of hair. It went fast, let me tell you!  I went to James Logan High School in Union City, California.  I graduated in 1986 and even though I was not one of the kids in the best cliques, I felt very popular and loved by the friends who I made, most of whom are friends with me to this day. 

Michelle Marie Heilman, the mother of my child and ex-wife, and me at my Senior Prom in 1986.