About Scott

I was born in Springfield, Massachusettes in 1973 and my first home was in Ludlow, Mass.  During my elementary school years my family and I moved around a lot, following my Dad as he found new jobs with higher and higher pay.  In the end, we lived in seven different homes by the time I finished sixth grade.

After spending my first few years in Ludlow, Mass, we moved to another town in Massachusettes called Munson.  We lived there for about a year.  It was here that I went to Kindegarten.  I remember playing Atari Asteroids, watching BattleStar Galactica, riding my Big Wheel, and playing games with my younger sister.

The third home we moved into was actually my Grandfather's and was in Springfield.  We moved in with him while we awaited the completion of our forth house, which was being built in Chicopee, Mass.  Since our house was being built, we were able to enroll me to Litwin Elementary School in Chicopee.  It was at this school I would spend most of my years growing up.  At some point, towards the end of 1st Grade, we were able to move into our Chicopee home.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to live in it too long.  My Dad received a job with the government and we moved to Waldorf, Maryland for the beginning of second grade.  While there, we were able to visit Washington D.C. many times.  When I was about half-way through the second grade, my Dad decided that working for the government wasn't for him and we moved back to Chicopee...right around the corner of the house we just moved from less than a year earlier. 

It was easy for me to integrate back into Litwin Elementary.  I already knew all of my classmates and my friends were already in place.  I would spend the next four years living here.  During this time, I remember cable TV being first installed and the start of some music channel called MTV.  (This was when they actually played music.)  I loved Star Wars, GI Joe, and He-Man.  I had many good friends and had a great time.

In the middle of my 6th grade year, we moved to my seveth house.  We packed up our things and moved to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.  Wolfeboro is a small resort town that is on the edge of Lake Winnipesaukee.  We stayed here for a year and a half.  During this time, I got to do a lot of fun things.  I attended Kingswood Regional Jr. High, learned how to ski, and I also got to shake hands with Vice President George H.W. Bush (aka George Bush Senior) before he announced he would run for President.  I also got to do some camping and mountain hiking in Vermont, see Mount Washington, and have all kinds of adventures with my friends in the heavily wooded area we lived in.

During the summer before my 8th grade year, we moved out to Sterling Heights, Michigan.

It was during this time period (8th and 9th grade) that I began to take a deep interest in drawing.  I would buy comic books like crazy and study the artwork.  Whenever possible, I would buy a "How to draw..." book and practice as much as I could.  I had been able to develop a strong core of friends.  We spent much of our time playing Lazer Tag, Dungeons and Dragons, BattleTech, watch the WWF (now the WWE), play tag football and street hockey, and just hangout riding our bikes.

As I approached the beginning of my 10th grade year, my life would take a major turn.  It was the summer of 1988 and I was approaching my 15th birthday.  High School was fast approaching and I was so excited because this meant that I could join the wrestling team!  I had been waiting for years for this opportunity.  You see, where I went to school, there was no wrestling team in Jr. High.  In addition to this my family and I never thought to see if there were any wrestling clubs I could have joined prior.  But none of that mattered.  All I cared about was High School meant I could join wrestling.

Or so I thought.

Towards the end of August in 1988, and just as school was beginning, I began to experience excruciating pains in my joints.  It got so bad, that I couldn’t even walk up the stairs at night to get to my bedroom.  I would have to rely on my Dad to carry me up.  My joints would hurt all night, even while I would lay still.

Each day at school, however, I refused to let anyone see my pain.  I forced myself to use the stairs, even though I had a pass to use the elevator.  I was determined that I could force myself through this.  I figured that if no one knew about my pains, I could force myself through this and overcome it through sheer will.

Slowly, my doubts grew.  I became less confident with each day as my pains worsened.  The only thing I was holding on to was the thought of joining the wrestling team becuase I knew the try-outs were fast approaching.    

After going to many doctors over the past couple of months, I was finally diagnosed with Lupus.  And as luck would have it, this was on my 15th birthday! This was a blow to me.  I was told that there was no way I was going to wrestle.  I was so angry!  This was SO not fair!

I was determined to keep this quiet at school.  I didn’t want others to know that I was weak.  I would get through this without anyone knowing.  This didn’t last long. On my first day back to school, a friend came up to me and told me how sorry they were about my condition.  This was like a punch to the stomach.  I was so stunned.  “How do you know?”, I asked.

He replied, “They announced it at my church.  We all prayed for you.”

At that moment, a fire burned so hot within me.  Many angry thoughts went through my head.  Who were they to reveal my weakness to everyone?  Who asked them to pray for me?  I don’t need their useless prayers!  I don’t need their pity!

From that moment on, I had someone to blame for my illness, and that someone was God.  Unfortunately, my upbringing had armed me with just enough religious knowledge to be a danger to myself.  With no foundation to rest upon, my anger overwhelmed me and I chose to face my illness alone.  Whether it was my chemotherapy, kidney biopsies, or enduring the pains of a flare-up, I was determined not to allow God to help me.

More to follow...