About Me: ~ Personal Life

I am 51 year-old Divorced father of four (Don't try to fix me up, I'm NOT looking!). My eldest two are my daughters in Ramona CA, Christina Ruth Tillory [Christi], at 23, Cynthia Michele Tillory [Cynnamon], at 22, and my youngest two are my daughter Marissa Nicole Tillory [Rissa], at 13, and my son Joseph Alexander Tillory [Joseph], at 10. My youngest two live with their mother, I miss them very much and see them as their mother permits(seldom).

I am a fairly serious person. I've had two friends die as a result of a practical joke gone wrong, and so I have a great dislike of both “practical“ jokes & April fool’s Day. I'm a voracious reader; I’ve been reading since I was 4 1/2 Years old, and read about 350 to 400 Pages a day. I love music, all kinds equally ((Yes, even Bagpipe Music)I can talk about Books & Music, webcomics, Manga & Anime for hours). I don't drive so I walk a lot and enjoy seeing new places and learning new things.

I have suffered from nightmares, insomnia & depression for most of my life, and I now average about three hours of sleep a night. Which, believe it or not is an improvement, compared to what it used to be. Before, I would go without sleep for three or four days then collapse. I entered a treatment program and did drug therapy for three years. As direct result of this, In1999, was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance (Did you know that the siren costs $250.00 extra?)with kidney stones and irreprable kidney damage. [No more Coffee for me. : ( ] I haven’t had a drink(of Alcohol) in years; not since the second week of September 1987.

Three years ago, I got some devastating news. My father had died and not one of my many relatives took two minutes out of their busy. over-scheduled lives to bother to tell me he had died, or what he'd died of. In the resulting depression, I lost my family, my job and almost myself. I was in a very dark place. My father was like air: you don't realize how important he is until he's gone. Not a day goes by that I don't miss my father, and regret that our final meeting was an argument, and I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to him. For quite some time I was estranged from my family, but thanks to my starting a blog on wordpress, I am now in contact with my eldest brother and his family & the eldest of my four children. I write and Email Them on an irregular basis, and talk to my daughter Christi at least once a week. I even play games with her on Facebook!

A year and a half ago, I was homeless. Technically speaking, I still am. I am currently living in Jubilee Transition House. It's an 18+ month program; Even before Jubilee house I volunteered on Tuesdays & Wednesdays at the Tualatin School House Food Pantry. At a time in my life when I felt most lost; working at the Food Pantry, made a difference; gave me both direction and a reason to get up in the morning... It is hard to deal with outer problems when you're battling inner demons, but helping others with their problems is a great way to help yourself to learn how to cope with your own. I would also volunteer at Freegeeks on the occasional Thursdays or Saturday. I worked for several of them to earn a computer for taking my online classes.

My father, until the day he died would describe himself as “A shoemaker by tradeâ€; despite having been many, many other things: a Shoe Salesman, WWII War Veteran, Electrician, Plumber, Cook, Furniture Re-Upholsterer, Postal Letter Carrier, Father & Lay Leader at our United Methodist Church. And yet, to me he was always “Dadâ€. Just as my dad saw himself as a Shoemaker, I see myself as a student, my Motto: “Know and Understand “.; the world is wide and in it I still have much to learn. When I am not employed, I indulge in creative writing, as I have since the third grade. I've written Poems, Short Stories, Comic Book Treatments, I've even written a play or two. I still draw and write, although not as much as I would like to. I've always wanted to publish under my own imprint: Expatriate Press. There are sample chapters from a few of my current projects on this site under Portfolio.

For More about me and my life, I have an erratically updated blog at:
bookpirate1.wordpress.com, & expartriatepress.wordpress.com. and two ONLINE PROFILES: http://www.wix.com/meugene_tillory/profile & http://www.beyond.com/mtillory-or