At the time, Burbank was peaceful, quiet, and enjoyable. But on March 1, 1994, my grandfather died, and the direction of my life took a wild turn. My mother, who lived in Sylmar with my father, decided that I would attend Saint Didacus, a private school in Sylmar, from sixth through eighth grade. Looking back, John Muir Middle School was literally around the corner from my grandmother and grandfather’s home. Attending school there might have prevented me from going on the wild journey that followed in the San Fernando Valley, but God only knows why each of us goes through different experiences in life.

Saint Didacus placed me in a setting very different from Burbank in terms of its social dynamics, socioeconomic conditions, and other factors I prefer not to write about. There was nothing inherently wrong with the setting, but I now believe that the change led me in the wrong direction. Looking back as a responsible adult, I can recognize that this was when my life began to take a wild turn. My grandfather was dead, my grandmother was selling the house, and as a child I had no control over any of it. I could not stay in that home or continue living the same life I had known in Burbank, so I was forced to adapt to a completely different environment and attend school in Sylmar.