How my crazy life began...
He grew up in Seattle. Like many families, he came from a broken home, raised with a Navy stepdad, and began rebelling as a teen. Due to a sad and traumatic event, he landed himself in Walla Walla Washington State Prison during his young adulthood.
[Photo Above: Dad (right) and his Stepdad (left)]
She was raised in the Bay Area and was the 2nd oldest daughter out of six. By the age of 16, she was running with Hayward’s Gypsy Jokers bikers gang. When the Jokers left Hayward, she moved to Los Angeles and began running with the Hells Angels.
He and she met through chance, or maybe, it was FATE (if you believe in such a thing). They became penpals during his time at Walla Walla. Once he was released, he joined her in Los Angeles, where he began working for his biological fathers trucking company. After a short time together they had me. :)
Photo Above: Mom & Dad together
So Who am I? My name is Melanie and I am no one special. Well, what I mean is that I’m not famous, rich, or royalty. I’m an average person with a highly dysfunctional family. In today’s society, that’s not necessarily an abnormal thing.
My story begins on December 23, 1977. I was born in West Covina, California at approximately 3am and was taken home on Christmas Day. Being my dads only child, he was quite nervous with me in the car which caused him to reverse us into a brick wall. What a way to start Christmas!
[Photo Above: Dad and my brother Randy]
Sadly, I don’t have many memories of my dad when I was a child. From what my mother has told me, he liked to rob convenience stores. They also used heroine together and stayed in various motels for short periods of time. Mom went on to say, my dads real “high” was the adrenaline rush he had when robbing convenience stores. He became addicted to this rush and continued robbing mini-marts even though they had a dozen brown paper bags filled to the brim with money.
When I was around the age of 1, my dads brother (Dick), talked him into bank robbery. So with Dick driving the get away car, my dad held up a bank in Los Angeles and fled with a clean getaway.
Shortly after the robbery, my dad went to get a hair cut and there on the television, was a photo of him robbing a bank. Someone in the shop recognized him and called the police. He was apprehended, plead guilty to the robbery, and was sentenced to 20 years; 10 years State and 10 years Federal time, to be served consecutively (back to back). Dad never turned in his brother for his role in the robbery.
[Photo Above: Dad incarcerated]
So... My life went on with being raised by a heroine addicted biker chick Mom. This journey is just beginning... more to come soon.
