They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Here is a photo of my family whilst my father was in Medical School in Bologna Italy. I was 3 in this photo, the little guy in front on my new tricycle.

Look at the picture again…look at my fathers eyes. “Dime slots”…we called it growing up. 

My father was the smartest person I knew. Although, I could never figure out why the needle was his best friend. He had his “Kit” everywhere we went. He would drive us kids to the cinder track and tell us you can do whatever you want but stay on the track. He would go into the stands, shoot up and trip for hours. Consequently my 3 siblings and I were all track record holders in every grade. I always wanted to write a book called “The Finish Line” .

As early as I can remember until the day he died he was a substance abuser who ended up on dialysis 3 times a week until he passed away.

Sad to say subsequently my two older brothers followed his footsteps. 

When I entered High School I took psychology to try to figure out why would a genius who knew what the results were do this. I then learned about addiction. It was also during this time my father injected a dirty needle in to his hand which got infected and turned in to Gangrene. He ended up loosing his pinky, ring finger and 2/3’s of his middle finger.

He was addicted to heroin, alcohol and cocaine.  

At some point when I was in college, my family completely fell apart. I slept on floors and worked full-time and put myself through college and graduated from Manhattan College in the Bronx. 

My mother and sister moved away and I lived with my father who got worse and worse. During  this time he ran Methadone clinics in NYC which fueled his addiction. The AMA, American Medical Association got wind that he was writing prescriptions for side money until it turned into his main income. He was ultimately arrested. I watched it on the television as it was a "breaking News" segment. 

He moved to Santo Domingo and taught Medicine until he retired. All along remaining addicted.

I graduated from Manhattan College with a Liberal Arts major focusing on Psychology and a minor in Shakespeare. My last two years in college I interned at the BRC Bowery Residence Committee located in the Bowery aka Skid Row. I ran group sessions and did client intake. After graduation they hired me and I worked there for 2 years as a counselor and had a full caseload. 

I moved to LA and somehow ended up in front of the camera. My daughter was born and decided to jump behind the camera.  I then found Spot Welders and never looked back.