Hey all, I hope you read this post because I wanted to share my history and how I started writing. I know I usually use this blog for writing purposes only but I thought that this would be interesting. This will probably become a two or three part post, depending on how much I want to get into.
Part One: Introductions
Hello, my name is Yukioh Monozuki, or at least that's my online name. I started writing at the tender age of tweleve. I don't remember all of the circumstances that got me to the point where I started to put my thoughts on paper, but I did. At first though, I didn't want to share or open up my work and when my older sister read a piece of it out loud and called what I wrote "stupid" I almost gave up. But I didn't I kept on writing because I wanted to prove her wrong. My stories were childish at the time, yes, but you have to start somewhere. At that age, I was just adjusting to an unfamiliar setting. In my younger years, my mother completely homeschooled us. Also, we just moved to our first house. Needless to say, a lot of changes happened in that short amount of time.
I think in that transition of a new found freedom helped me a little. My first works were songs, inspired by new CDs that our parents gave us for Christmas. But before I get to that, I need to explain the life that we lived beforehand. At a very young age, we moved from the east coast to the northwest. I don't remember everything that happened but I do remember staying at my aunt's house for a while while we looked for a house. My dad just got out of the navy and was looking for employment. While doing that, my mom took a job at Toys 'R Us to help support me and my three sibliings. My older sister and I went to school with my cousins while my younger siblings stayed home.
At that time, I remember some good times and bad. We were pressed for space with a total of ten people sharing a trailer. However we made the best of everything. Eventually, we rented a two story duplex near where my dad got employment. This became the first remarkable event in our lives. We got to move into our own place! I mean, we lived in a house on the east coast, but we got to live on our own again. This excited us. However, we couldn't live on my dad's salary alone. My mom took up a paper route to help make ends meet. And at that time, my older sis (age ten) and I (age eight) helped her. We woke up in the middle of the night to help bag, fold, and run these routes. At one point we had up to three. We were homeschooled at this point so most of our schooling took place in the late morning/afternoons.
My older sister and I would alternate days, except on Sunday's. My dad helped out then and we would split the route in two. We attended church when we could, but most of the time we were took exhausted to go. Still, we made ends meet and got to spend time knowing God. Now, while this seems like a terrible experience I learned a lot though it all. I got to spend some good time with my mom and dad (as I would go with him on Sunday's because I knew my way around :P). I grew close to them and we had a strong bond. I must say that through the "harsh" times, we pull through by God's grace. As a result of the route, our cars started to break down and we couldn't afford to fix them at the time. Yet God provided. It was clear that even though we couldn't go to church every week, His hand was upon us. I will never forget the kindess and grace He showed.
Being tight on money, we always had to sort out what we wanted and what we needed. My older sister and I had a good sense of this but as my younger siblings grew older, they didn't understand quite as well. When we started to get into a better financial situation, we could afford more items. Though we still ran the routes, we were not complaining. This was an experience we would never forget. I remember my mom had surgery to remove a galstone. I got scared because I thought I was losing my mom (mind you, I was young). She lived, I'm glad to say. :P In that time, my grandparents came out to help us with the routes. My mom sent me to teach them because I knew them quite well (my older sis wasn't awake at 11pm-3am). They said we were insane, but hey, we lived.
In 2000, our landlord said that he wouldn't renew our lease. We had been fighting him for years over the land because it leaked raw sewage, had a mouse problem, and people stole our items. Our family decided to take a new step. We moved into our first house in September. I remember the excitment we all felt when we stepped inside. We were in awe. I think we kind of got used to the idea that we would always be in one spot. Thanks to the help of a Real Estate agent at our church, we got this house and he even helped us pay for new carpet. God blessed us immensly. However, we still ran routes. My mom talked about starting a new school when I was entering 6th grade. We would be going to a parent co-op center, which was just as exciting. We still juggled the routes and managed to get up for 8:30 classes. I became interested in band at that point and started my first year on the clarinet Somewhere in my 8th grade year, my mom took a manager's position and my older sis and I didn't have to run routes anymore.
We were excited at the news. However, even though we quit, it took a long time to get used to not waking up in the middle of the night. I will never forget the routes. They hold so many memories for me. They range from being chased by creepy people, to ordering out at Jack-In-the-Box (a rare treat mind you), checking out our groceries at QFC (the night crew was so nice to me), my dad getting bit by a dog, talking to my parents about everything, and listening to old radio shows on Saturday mornings.
End Part One
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