Chapter 16

When I was small, if I fell asleep on a family trip I would always wake up alone in the car in some parking lot; cleverly setting the stage for my abduction, sort of like leaving your keys in car on purpose. Unfortunately for both of us, the whole abduction plan never worked out. Tenacity was at the heart of everything my father did and just because I wasn’t snatched from the backseat in some parking lot he wasn’t about to give up. One of their most creative schemes was the free puppy give-away approach. The note on my playpen, written in my father’s impeccable handwriting, read, “Free baby”; my mother had left enough diapers, formula and toys inside the playpen to help a family get started. I can only imagine the look on their faces two days later when they drove by the intersection and discovered I was still there. Life is full of bitter disappointments.

Chapter 21

Having been raised with a code of silence, he was the first person outside of my direct family that I knew would keep my secret safe. As kindred spirits in dysfunction we pushed off from shore in a tiny row boat, hoping to find a new land, out of harm’s way. Two broken people, rowing for our lives; one of us would drown; the other would barely make it out alive.