I was born in San Diego, California, at Balboa Naval Hospital, to teenage parents. A preemie. My father was in the Marine Corps. I lived in an incubator for a couple of weeks until I reached a stable 5 lbs., when they released me to go home with my parents on Coronado Island. I became an ocean lover very early on, and still am to this day.
My mother was 16 and my father 19 at this point. They met one another when they were in school and began dating when Mom was 14 and Dad was 16. They were inseparable from that time until Dad’s passing on July 4th, 2012.
It was such a blessing that my parents loved one another and stayed committed for life. I’d always believed when I was young that my life would be like that too until right around 15 years of age. I’d had a boyfriend since I was 14; my parents loved him and approved of our future marriage, which likely would have taken place when I was around 16. My parents were new Christians at this time, and I deeply desired to be one too.
I had very limited experience with Christians until I was around 13 or 14. I was just finishing junior high school when Dad, once an atheist, took the family to a church. As I recall, I went to Sunday School two or three times when I was little, with a schoolteacher, I loved it, and had my first unmistakable encounter with God when I was 8 years old, but wouldn’t learn much about him for many more years. To be continued.