They call me Matt; but it was Matthew when I was younger. It’s a good, strong, masculine name of which I have always been proud. This name, and the gift of life, were the only things my parents were allowed to give to me. Unfortunately, they both perished in a fiery automobile accident on a treacherous winter’s night when I was a mere infant. I have no distinct memory of them other than two dog-eared snapshots circa 1953: one of my then-18-year-old dad. hair slicked back, leather jacket over white tee, a cigarette dangling from his lower lip and standing in his best James Dean impersonation; the other of my mom in a wrap-around plaid skirt leaning against an old Ford, looking very much like a young Natalie Wood. The photographs were taken two years before I was born, and less than a year later they were gone.
From that moment on, I was shifted from relative to relative, from coast to coast, never spending enough time in one place to grow any roots or develop any lasting relationships. Luckily, both my parents came from large families so there was no shortage of homes for me to visit. Usually, an aunt would decide that the burden of another child in the household was too much and I would be packed off to the next home.
Early on I knew that I was a good looking boy. Women loved to pat my silken hair or pinch my rosy cheeks. One particularly nasty aunt often commented on my resemblance to my deceased father, who, it seemed, was not a favorite with the family. My father seemed to have had a reputation as a ladie’s man. I knew that I failed to follow in his footsteps; the other boys in school were what interested me.