Chapter 1:
I’ll never forget that moment. Sitting there in an overly decorated, centrally heated, horrificly outdated office, I replayed her words in my head as I sat there. “No, it’s Chris Simkonis; he has no family.” That’s what I really just heard. And that was the moment that I realized the absolute truth behind that statement. I had been shunned, abandoned, outcasted, locked out, and thrown out. And I didn’t even realize it until after getting into college. My story is a long one, and a complicated one. And as far as I’m concerned, it starts with my father. I grew up in a typical middle class family. But there was something that was far from typical about this family. And that was my father. Growing up, it’s something I never fully realized, but the love he showed for his family was something I will spend the rest of my life striving for. My father was provider, caretaker, and storyteller. He was everything a father could be and then some. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I possibly could. He was my dad, I had to. But something changed drastically as I grew older. My family moved to a new town, far out in the country, when I was fourteen. It was my father’s dream. We had finally worked our way up out of the city and were able to afford a beautiful house with plenty of woods, orchards, a pond, and all the wonders of the natural world seen throughout the Appalachain Mountains. But something changed in my father. This was right after his father and mother died. I remember the only time I ever saw my father cry in my entire life. It was during his father’s funeral. After hearing of his death, my dad had held it together for the most part. Funeral arrangements were made, he looked accepting during the viewing, keeping his composure. But during the funeral, during the three-volley salute, my dad just broke down in tears. Never again would I see him cry. The spring we moved to Tunkhannock, something really changed. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but my dad seemed to be sad and agitated after the move. But I never realized how bad it actually was until April.
