I am currently 8 days away from turning 16.
I am, at this point, growing more than I have ever felt myself growing before, maybe because the growing pains this time around are so strong.
I was born in Utah to a mormon mother and father, Claire and Jason. My mother had already had one daughter, Hilary, who is 3 years older than me. All of my family at that point in time was mormon.
We moved to California before I was a year old, when my dad got a job teaching in this valley. My mom ran a daycare, and I remember my childhood being simple and happy.
My dad told my mother he had been struggling over his homosexual feelings when I was three-ish. They separated, and at this point my Grandmother died of cancer. My mom met Dennis, and they became pregnant with my little sister, Rennen, who is now 11.
My dad met Giancarlo, the Mexican-Italian former-teacher who became a huge part of my life. We visited him at his house in the valley a lot, and then we all moved in together in this valley a while after.
When I was in second grade, my mom moved to Seattle with Dennis and Rennen, and Hilary and I stayed with my dad and Giancarlo. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been on my mom to make that decision.
There was a period of time when things were so normal at home, and so peaceful…then Hilary’s dad, Ron, decided he didn’t want his daughter living with two gay men, and demanded that she move to Seattle with my mom, or else he would demand custody of her. My parents had no choice, and after that I became virtually an only-child.
I remember in second grade, (2000) there was a lovely little proposition called Prop 22. I lost my best friend over it, and from that point on I promised myself I would become a gay rights activist because if it had hurt me so bad, it must be hurting many other people as well.
In 2004, the California supreme court concluded that denying gay marriage was unconstitutional, and when gay marriage was allowed, only recently, I could breathe again about this issue.
Anyway, I got to visit my mom every three months or so, but it was still really tough. Her life wasn’t easy, and making trips up there weren’t easy, either. Recently, she moved to Las Vegas (like a 4 hour drive from home) and seeing as I get my license soon, I will be free to see her more frequently, as I wish. This will be a relief.
In sixth grade, my dad and Giancarlo adopted Diego. I got a little brother! : ]
In March of 2007, I met Jacob. He was a junior and I was a freshman at our high school, and we hit it off really well. We have been dating officially since April of that year, and we’re going on to our second year this coming spring. <i> I never would have thought I would meet such a great guy in high school.</i>
Earlier this year, my sister Hilary had a son, Elijah, and long story short, my mother is adopting him and he lives with her now. He is my favorite human being, and I feel a ridiculous kind of attachment to him. He is now a little over 8 months old, and I love him more than anything or anyone.
I am a junior in high school now, and am the president of a club called ICU, or Invisible Children of Uganda, dedicated to raising awareness and money about the 23-year-long war that has been raging in Uganda. Go to http://www.invisiblechildren.com to read up on it. This is just one of the many causes I am very passionate about, and I have been part of the club since my freshman year, when a teacher told me about the cause and I demanded that my father drive me to meet up with some strangers who were also going to be demonstrating peacefully for the cause. That day changed my life, too.
Now I want to go to SDSU (hopefully) and study international conflict resolution. What I plan on doing with my life is being an activist for my many causes, doing humanitarian work internationally (and within my area), hopefully getting married and having a family, and playing my violin until I can’t anymore. I still have to figure the rest out..
