Have to start Somewhere cont....

Prelate SK, always felt out of place to me. Someplace I really didn't belong. I will say, that for all of it's shortcomings, in many ways it was a catalyst for many of my present day traits. My time spent alone there was greatly influential in my ability to become as creative as I am. I learned to ride a bike my Grandparents bought for me. The confusing nature of Catholics. It also gave me my first insight into how a marriage, in fact any marriage could get all messed up in a really short period of time.
After my parents went their separate ways, my Mother moved to this place with a fellow named Jerry. Short tempered and easy to anger. I remember thinking how scary he was as a kid and years later seeing him as a poorly aged old man. Years of hard work on the farm cost a heavy price. He and my Mother had a son together. My Brother. Travis. I know very little of him and I deeply wish that were otherwise. I can tell you that shortly after my Mother left Jerry for the neighbor Barry, she left my Brother behind and moved to Saskatoon. I won't pretend to understand her choice in doing so, but that action has I believe led my Brother and I to be worlds apart, yet live in the same city. Yes, he lives here in Calgary and I live a very short drive away in Airdrie. I come into Calgary every day to go to work. I could pass by him on the street and not even know it. My own Brother. Shame really. I have made several attempts to contact him, yet I am always met with the same silence. I think he was married to his long time girlfriend a few years back.
  I drove with my Wife and Son through the hamlet of Prelate last year. The town feels utterly empty. The once thriving farming community was a mere shadow of it's former self. The farming industry has changed so much over the last 30 years. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, all you need to do is see these communities for yourself.
   I have a few scant memories about leaving Prelate. A faint recollection of my Mother and Jerry talking about her at least leaving him some plates and cutlery, then leaving for the city of Regina. I think we lived in a trailer park near a big open field. I was about seven. These times were very dark. Somethings are best left unsaid. I was grateful these days were few. My Father won custody of me around this time. I remember clearly him coming to get me. I was ready to go the moment he showed up. My troubles were not over yet however.
   We arrived in Okotoks where I was to live with my Father and his new wife Wendy. Looking back I feel quite bad for her, having to not just raise a child not of your own, but to raise one with as much baggage as I had, and I assure you I had a lot. Behavioral problems, extremely short attention span, and other miscellaneous personal habits to name a few.
   They tried so very hard. Tried to undo the years. Looking back I believe entirely that were it not for the support of a precious few, my life would have been much different.
   I started school at Percy Pegler Elementary. When I speak of people that helped me along the way, Mrs Hay was such a person. Brad Paisley wrote in a song, "And you should really thank Mrs. Brinkman She spent so much extra time. It's like she sees the diamond underneath. And she's polishing you 'til you shine ..."
  Well. enough for now.... Need to collect my thoughts.

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