I was born on April 27, 1994 at 11:58pm. I was born pre-mature. I was 8 inches

Long and weighed. I was a pretty awesome baby. As I got older I became more of

An out of control brat. My mom was only 16 when she had me so when I was growing

Up she was too. As a baby my nana Nelly helped my mom take care of me a lot

Because my mom had school and a job to manage. My father (aka the sperm donor)

Was never around to help my mom out or never even called to make sure we were

Ok. He’s been in and out of my life on and off. I talk to him like once every

2-3 years.

When I was like 1ish my mom had my little sister selena that she let my nana and

Tata adopt because my mom couldn’t take care of two kids with work and school.

When my mom was like 18-20 years old she met my little brother and sister’s dad,

His name was Gabe Munoz. He was an alright guy. He was nice to my mom and it was

Good to have a father figure around for once. My mom later had my little brother

Mario Munoz. When she was pregnant with him I couldn’t wait for him to be born.

I always wanted a little brother that I could play with and teach how to do

Things. When he was finally born he wasn’t what I expected, I couldn’t play with

Him, he always cried, everything was my fault. As he got older I loved him so

Much and he started to be everything I wanted in a little brother. We did

Everything together. He was my P.I.C. (partner in crime). A couple years later

My mom got pregnant with my little sister Reyna Mia Munoz. My brother And I





Would talk to my mom’s stomach and feel my sister kick and move around. When she

Was born she was the princess (Reyna Mia translates to my queen in Spanish). Mia

Was a cool sister to have. She grew up liking a lot of the things me and Mario

Liked. Except she didn’t like G.I. Joes like we did, she liked dollies and

Barbie’s instead, but that was cool I guess.

We lived at a lot of different apartments but the ones I remember the most are

Black ledge apartments and Thurber terrace apartments. I shared a room with my

Little brother and sister. At Black ledge we all had our own little beds. I had

A Nintendo 64 and my little brother had a play station 1, but mine was still

Better no matter how much newer and updated his was. I remember having a crush

On this girl named Gabby that lived two apartments down from me. I was like in

The 3rd grade and she was a 5th or 6th grader, but I didn’t care if she was

Older than me. We played every day. We went swimming a lot and played basketball.

One time I told her I liked her and she just stayed quiet and kind of

Ignored me. I never said anything like that again

After that. I was really embarrassed. After like two years roughly and a suicide

At black ledge we moved to Thurber terrace apartments. My grandfather lived

There for like 3 years before we moved in there. Moving wasn’t fun because I

Couldn’t see Gabby anymore and I had to pack all my stuff up and I hated it.

There were a lot of kids at the new apartments and a lot of nice and friendly

People. We lived on one side of the apartments for like 2 years and it was nice.

I made a lot of new friends and being able to see my Tata (grandfather) everyday

Was pretty awesome.

My brother and sisters dad got arrested for driving with a suspended license and

Went to jail for avoiding his probation officer and got put in jail for two

Years so I guess you could say he is out of the picture now. My mom now had to

Work full time and was never around. My brother and sister were always at the

Baby sitters house and they hated it there. Their grandmother tricked my mom and

Told her she was going to take the kids up to phoenix for like two weeks to

Visit and see family but she never brought them back home. Their grandmother

Foraged my mom’s signature giving full custody to her. My mom tried to fight it

But there was nothing she could do because their grandmother made mom seem like

The worst mom in the world. I felt empty and lonely without my brother and

Sister by my side.

All this hit my mom really hard and I think she didn’t know how to control her
Self. My mom started to hang out with the wrong crowd. We moved into a smaller
Apartment because my mom couldn’t afford the two bedroom anymore.

My cousin moved in with us and helped us out with whatever he could. I was with

Him a lot of the time. He helped me with all my school work and made sure it was

Complete right when I got out of school before I could do anything else. It

Wasn’t bad having my cousin around. He was a good cousin a was a good role

Model.

When I was in the fourth grade at Nash elementary my mom met her boy friend josh

Martinez. At first I didn’t like him because my mom was gone even more than she

Already was. I never liked when my mom had boyfriends or guy friends In general

Because I felt like it was just going to be just another guy trying to be my dad

And trying to tell me what to do. Josh was different though, he tried to be my

Friend at first. I was pretty mean to him. He would take me to go eat and hang

Out at a lot of different places. I started to like him when I realized that he

Wanted to help and be a friend instead of an enemy, so I let him be my frienemy

(Freh-nem-e). My mom was getting pretty bad on drugs and my cousin didn’t like

That, so he would try to do his best to keep me from seeing her like that but I

Wasn’t dumb and I knew what was going on with her.

My mother and I moved in with josh after a while of them being together. He

Lived in a little one bedroom house on prince and flowing wells. It was kind of

Small for 3 people but it was ok I guess. As I moving in present he bought an

Xbox when they first came out, which I thought was pretty awesome. We lived

There not that long after moving in with him. We found a 3 bedroom house on the

East side on country club and ended up moving in there.

I had to move schools to Blenmen elementary. I moved over there towards the end

Of the 4th grade. I felt like I knew so much more than everybody else in my

Class. They were learning what I remembered learning at the beginning of that

School year. The only thing I hated about that class is they tried to make me

Play the violin. I had no idea what I was doing half of the time. After that is

When drumming entered my life. I learned how to read and play music before

Anybody else in my class. Drumming was everything to me when I first started

Playing, that’s how people started to know who I was. I was gaining a

Reputation; I wasn’t just the kid with crooked teeth, I was Gabe the drummer

With the crooked teeth. At our first concert I remember being nervous because I

Started it out with a solo. I did awesome at least I think I did. After

Drumming/music class was over the teacher gave me a practice pad that I still

Have today to practice on and “achieve greatness” he said. I played for our

Schools basketball, flag football and softball team (they didn’t have a baseball

Team there) and had fun doing it.

Back at home things were getting better but worse. My mom was doing better

Trying to get her s*** together but her and josh argued and fought about

Every little thing. I had a pet Bata fish that I had forever and we adopted a

Big fat cat from the humane society. His name was James. He was a Norwegian

Forest cat. He was a wonderful cat. When we would give him catnip he would go
Crazy and go after the walls. I could talk to him about anything and he could
Just listen and not judge me one bit.
After 5th grade we ended up moving out of that house do to the sealing in my
Caving in and bad calls with the land lord. So my parents looked for a house but
Couldn’t find anything so we moved in to mountain apartments. It was hard moving
From a nice big house to a small two bedroom apartment, but we all knew it would
Only be temporary. I started school at Walter Douglas for my 6th grade school
Year. I met a lot of my friends that I know now there. I was a little chubby kid
With a Jew fro but I was okay with that. I met a girl named Nayely Alcaras
There. She was like my first long term girlfriend. She played me through the 6th
Grade but I was too blinded to notice it. I got in a lot of fights because of her
That year, in result instead of being suspended I got ISS (in school suspension).
In ISS I had to be in kindergarten or 1st grade class which was terrible. The
Little kids would always cry it was so annoying. But then again they were so
Funny and cute towards each other.
After the manager of the apartments pulled me up stars by the ear to my mom.
Josh my step father was raged with anger along with the rest of my family. Josh
Didn’t understand why he did that and josh wanted to get "The Boys" and whoop
His ass. To avoid further problems my grandfather asked that he didn't so he
Didn’t. We moved again after my 6th grade year. We found this house that was
Beautiful. It looked like a two story cabin that belonged in the white
Mountains. It was a two bedroom 2 1/2 baths and two car garage. My room was
Genomes. I had my own bathroom and a blackening that looked over the rest of the
House. It had a winding stair case and a long cat walk leading to the
Bedrooms. James my cat loved to run and jump off to the couch, it was funny to
Watch. For josh's birthday my mom got him a yellow lab puppy. Her name is honey
Because of her eye color. She was such a dumb clumsy puppy. She’s still apart of
The family till this day.
Finally Flowing Wells Jr. High. 7th grade was going to be a blast. All my old
Friends and tons more to meet. Going into the 7th grade I had a bad haircut and
I had to deal with it for the first day of school. I wasn't nervous at all. I
Remember looking forward to band and foot ball. In band class that’s where I first
Met Justyn Martinez, and a lot more good friends. I had a huge crush on justyn
For the longest time but never told her because she was/still is way out of my
League met my best friend and #1 P.I.C. Alex there and we've been like
Brothers ever since. Football sucked at first but it soon got better. We moved
Again to the yard (a 4 Acer R.V storage yard that josh and his father were the
Care takers of) my mom turned her whole life around. She cleaned up from her
Hard time after my siblings got taken. She went back to school and graduated and
Became a registered nurse. It’s like she's a whole new person. After 7th grade I
Figured 8th grade would be a blast and it was. All my classes were easy. Our
Football team went undefeated. Everything was awesome. The best part of my 8th
Grade year was my science class. It had all the homies in it. Best of all Justyn
Was in that class. Too bad she wasn't interested in me. I started dating Leslie
Alverez. We dated on and off in 8th grade. It was different but nice. In my
science class I got in trouble a lot for talking to justyn, like this one time I
Got in trouble for playing footie’s with her and the teacher called us out on
It in front of the whole class, we both turned red and were blushing. When that
Happen I was broken up with Leslie again and started dating Melissa Johnson, who
Was like justyn's best friend, but justyn thought we weren't right for each
Other so yeah. That relationship didn't work out and Leslie and I got back
Together again. I passed 8th grade and was looking forward to high school.
Freshman year was a little scary. A lot more people, being a the bottom of the
Totem pole and not knowing where anything is was a little nerve wrecking. I was
Still dating Leslie but I could tell things weren't going to last. It’s not like
I didn't want to be with her any more but I can’t remember how I felt exactly.
Football season was a whole new experience. Leslie and I broke up after
Football season because of me. I fell for a girl that just used me and I don't
Care for those memories anymore. We later got back together until sophomore year
When she had to move to Texas. I got in a fight with a kid named chuy that
Started in school and escalated out of school. Let’s just say people don't try to
Fight me anymore. Now thinking about it I don't think that that’s what needed to
Be done to solve the problem, but the past is the past and we can’t do nothing
Else but look back and ask our-self's what if? I messed up a lot my fresh man
Year to the point where it’s still affecting me today and I'm almost going to be a
Senior.
Sophomore year I had to work hard to try to catch up on my credits to
Get a head, the only reason I was able to be considered a sophomore was because
I took high school classes in the 8th grade which gave me an extra credit and a
Half. I was pretty sad after Leslie had moved. Somehow I got back in contact
With Melissa Johnson. We ended up dating again for about a year and a half.
Sophomore year I got back into the drums and got on the drum line and marching
Band playing 2nd tenor drum. It was a blast to be playing music again and I met
A lot of new people. Band camp was d-shizzznit, and an unforgettable experience.
Coming into junior year didn't seem like anything knew since I was going on my
3rd year at the high school now. I was doing awesome in school and marching
Season was beginning again so I was pretty psyched about that. Doing the middle
Of marching season Melissa and I were falling apart. On the other hand me and
Justyn were getting closer and closer. I would do anything to bring up a
Conversation with her, some may say that I was hard core flirting and I knew it
Too but I denied it. During the adobe state marching festival me and justyn
Became a whole lot closer. I wanted to tell her how I felt about her and kiss
Her so bad but didn't because I didn't know how she felt or even if the feelings
Were mutual so I didn't do anything. We started hanging out a lot in and outside
Of school. I later found out how she felt about me when I invited her to meet my
Family and through texting her 24/7. I broke up with Melissa because I felt like
Things weren't working out between us. I never really asked out justyn because
It was like we were already dating, we were just waiting to go public with it
Because of my ex-girlfriend and we didn't know how our friends would react. After
About 2 months of having a secret relationship, eventually we just decided to
Hold hands at school and of course my ex-girlfriend went crazy and our so call
Friends began to show their true colors about us and the haters began to rise to
Their hater-ness. Just like everything else we decided not to let them get to
Us.
Justyn and I have been together for almost 4 months on April 13. When I'm with
Justyn I feel untouchable. I feel like nothing can bring me down. She’s different
Than all the other girls I’ve been with. Every time I'm around her she makes me
Feel all fuzzy and warm inside. Yes we may have our little moments from time to
Time but we talk about them and we work through them together. I love her a lot and
I know she loves me the same if not a little more.
I guess you can conclude that my short journey through life hasn’t been an easy one, but I have learned a lot from what I have been through and from the people I’ve met. “Everything Happens For A Reason”, is a quote that I’m often telling myself when life’s navigational system re-calculates my path of travel due to my surroundings or something I have done. I do wish in life, like a navigation system when you make a wrong turn or go the wrong way, that you could just make a u- turn and try again but the majority of the time in life people often wait too long and get in to deep before trying to get back on the right path and by then it’s too hard to find their way back and they give up.