I grew up in a family where there wasn’t any hope that life was good. There was no confidence that our lives had meaning, or that there was purpose for our being here on earth.

I was very distant from my parents. My dad spent all of his time sitting in a chair reading the newspaper, and my mom screamed and yelled constantly about anything and everything. I was terrified of her, but at the same time, I wanted love and affirmation from her. I did great in sports and even competed in nationals for swimming, but nothing I did seemed to make my mom like me.