My name is William Norman Boggs Junior. You can call me Bill. Not Billy.

I’m a white, at-the-far-edge-of-middle-aged male, born in Ashland, Kentucky and Scot-Irish in ethnicity. I’m also traditional, heterosexual, strongly patriotic, conservative, politically independent, divorced, remarried to an amazing woman who loves me, and an evangelical Christian ex-patriot of sorts.

I’m smart (with a Mensa card to prove it), a veteran of the United States Marine Corps after a 3-year rewarding and successful tour of duty, well-educated (a bachelor’s and master’s degree, each from Big Ten universities), and have a long-term job with a respectable salary. I’m creative with hobbies that include art, writing, music, and acting. And I am the ultra-proud father of four great, well-adjusted children and the grandfather of ten incredible grandchildren (no, wait…mine really are incredible!).

Most who observe my life might say I’ve done okay. Not a bad bit of escaping for an abandoned adult child of an alcoholic who still struggles with genuine fear of abandonment. My father was an abusive alcoholic who abandoned me when I was six. Never saw him again. My mother, through no fault of her own, also abandoned me, dying of an intercranial aneurysm when I was 21. Another who was close to me also abandoned me several times. The academic research I scoured confirms very few who have experienced the aggravated alcoholism of a parent and repeated instances of abandonment grow up to a solid life. Ha.

Fear of abandonment shaped my life and continues to influence it.

I tell these stories on my blog for two simple reasons. First, and most importantly, I write to share my heart with my four children and my ten grandchildren. I want them to know who I am, what I think about, and how much I love them. Secondly, I write with the hope that by telling my tales, you my reader will be moved in some way, find encouragement, or at least feel like you’re not alone. With those things in mind, I do love to have fun. I’m glad you’re here. I hope reading these words of mine will make you smile as much as I do as I write them!