MY LIFE: The Making of Coach Alexander (Section 1b: Death)

I'm going to skip from my parent's divorce (when I was 3 years old) to a pivotal point in my psychological development when I was 10 years old.

My father was a mythical person to me like Jesus Christ or He-Man (cartoon character).  I heard a lot about him and saw pictures yet I really didn't get a chance to know him till I was about 8 years old.  He had officially discharged from the U.S. Army and was back in Cleveland with plans to be in my life.

Over a two year period, I became familiar with the man my father was.  He was short, charismatic, muscular, a leader, someone who liked the material aspects of life, and definitely a ladies man.  Within 2 years, things had changed.  My father met a woman named Jan who had a daughter that was a couple of years younger than me.  My father and Jan got engaged.

Starting a new career at the U.S. Post Office with the prospect of marriage and settling down into family life, my father began prepping me for a better life.  At that time, I lived with my single mother in a low-income area while she collected government assistance and hustled (legal and illegal).  The idea of living with my father in a house with a full family was a dream like no other.  He was going to be my savior.

In 1987, my savior was the victim of medical negligence.  My father died by choking on his own blood following a "routine" procedure where a slightly intoxicated doctor (drinking on his lunch break) accidently punctured the bottom of my father's brain.  Just as Jesus was crucified in Rome, and He-Man was the victim of Skeletor's plots, my father had fallen at the hands of another.  Death had visited and ripped my dreams to shreds.  My descent into the abyss had just begun.