Starting at the beginning. My Roots.

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is my first foray into the world of blogging and with it I hope to grow and become better at this in time. I work full-time as a driver in the chaotic industry of construction so it will be a challenge to post regularly.

Before I begin detailing my life and history before the onset of OCD, I must give a quick foreword regarding the limitation of my ability to remember my past life experiences. My earliest recollection of having this condition goes back to my 9th or 10th year. A lot has happened since that time (I’m now 35), and unfortunately I do not have the best of memory function. I promise to you, my audience, to do my very best to recount my experience as truthfully and accurately as possible.

To get an idea of who I am, I think it’s of the utmost importance to explain where I came from. I believe family dynamics are such a crucial role in the happiness and well-being of children growing up. I grew up in a traditional household, with both my mother and father very present in my life. My parents have been married for over 40 years, and while they have had their differences and adversities to overcome they continue to remain together.

Their life has been quite the journey. Both of them born in Birmingham, England at a time when the Beatles were just coming into their own. My father a young machinist with big ideations of moving to foreign lands for better work opportunities. My mother born an only child fell for a mop-top, Beatle look-a-like only the ’60’s could produce. As they settled and eventually married my father applied for job opportunities abroad, and was given the choice to immigrate to Canada or New Zealand. Eventually with much consideration and a job offer in hand, they chose to make their new home Canada.

After purchasing a house and becoming acclimated with the North American lifestyle, they decided to create their own family and grow new roots in this place they now call home. First born was my eldest sister, 9 years older than me. A few years later, came my second sister. She was born with Spina Bifida which physically disabled her from the waist down. And finally one brisk winter day in March of 1986 I was brought into this world.

My mother was the matriarch in our family, typically the one making the decisions. She would book the getaways, buy the toys and sign me up for sports. She rarely participated in recreational activities herself, but rather she lived vicariously through us by watching every game and rooting us on from the sidelines. My father was a lone wolf of sorts. Typically one could find him puttering around the house working on miscellaneous tasks or putting his green thumb to use in the garden. He was the responsible parent, always teaching us valuable life lessons. He was also the fiscally calculated parent, counting our beans and insuring our lifestyle continues.

I had a great childhood. Both my siblings were many years older than me, and at times it felt as though I was an only child. I have very few memories playing with my sisters, as I followed in my father’s footsteps and generally kept myself entertained. I would consume my time playing with hot wheels miniatures, Lego and figurines to start. As I got older and progressed into the 90’s, technology stamped it’s domination into the minds and laps of children worldwide – and I was stricken. First was Tamagotchi, then Digimon. Blazing a trail right behind them was Nintendo’s Pokemon. This would spell the beginning of my very long love affair with video games.

Life was simple in those days. I had very little responsibilities, and short of taking out the trash periodically I was free to spend my time as I wished. Our house was fairly unstructured and so this facilitated a certain level of laxity that I wouldn’t outgrow well into my early 20’s. I was very sheltered from the arduousness that life can sometimes require. This can be attributed in part to my own lack of motivation paired with my mother’s ‘helicopter parent’ mentality.

I intended for this first blog to be about my early beginnings as a child, including some background on my family history and my origin story. While I think I’ve illustrated that at a minimum there is much more nuance and detail that I simply couldn’t fit in this first blog. In the next blog my desire is to discuss my earliest instances with OCD, what may have been a primary catalyst and more how this ties into my loved ones.

Thanks for reading and keep an eye peeled for my next blog.