First, An Intro. The Good Stuff Comes Later

Faythe here.

I'd like to give a quick little background on my parents before I begin writing stories about them on here. Having that kind of information will make it easier to see exactly where and how I got my own kind of Crazy from.

Let's begin with my Dad. He was born in Oregon in 1930, the youngest of 5 kids. He went to college, moved to Southern California and became from what I understand, a technical writer. When L. Ron Hubbard first started up Dianetics, my Dad got involved and was one of the first people to start taking classes in the late 50s. I don't know how long he was into Scientology, but it wasn't for very long, and if you ask him about it now he thinks they're a bunch of kooks. My Dad was very shy, and he still hadn't yet gotten married at the age of 41 when he met my mother in 1971.

My mother, on the other hand was born (in 1953) and raised in Los Angeles, the middle child of 5 kids. She graduated from her second high school (she got kicked out of the first one--I can't remember what she did, but by today's standards it was pretty tame) and met my dad through a personal ad in the paper. At first she thought he was too old, but when she realized she could get out of the house if she eloped with him, she thought that was a great idea.

And so, after my parents got married and my mom moved out of her parent's house, they decided to move. For some reason they figured they'd move back to Oregon, but not just any old place. My Dad wanted to live out in the middle of nowhere, and so when I was 9 months old, my parents drove up to Oregon, found 12 acres of land in the middle of nowhere and my Dad got to work building a house, which took 4 years to complete. I lived there for 17 years until I went to college and moved to Eugene. My parents decided to move to Eugene as well, and our old house in Deadwood has since completely collapsed and nature has taken it back. I think this says more about my Dad's building skills than anything else...

Living such an isolated life for so long can really amplify the Crazy. Also, if you weren't Crazy before, it'll make you Crazy. My parents may have lived in Eugene for over 15 years so far, but I'm not kidding when I tell you it doesn't matter. Which is why I find Rayleen's situation infinitely more amusing than my own because her Mom is dedicated to the country life, will live out there until the day she dies, and it's only going to get worse!

So! Stay tuned for my next entry where I write about examples of my Dad's fear of doctors and where that leaves him!

Oh, and I just want to add that despite how crazy my parents are, I myself would have no problem living near them again. In fact, I mention this to Ryan once in a while and he just about has a heart attack! Something about how everyone he's ever met from Oregon is a wacko and how he could never live in a state where there's so many wackos in one spot.