I had a few close friends in my adolescence, and still have those same friends now in my middle 30s. Aside from my few friends, everybody thought I was strange because I was always drawing designs of vehicles and buildings, all the way to the most minor details. I also greatly enjoyed fishing and the aquarium hobby. Most of my summers were spent at the local fishing holes on a near daily basis. I was also very much into the aquarium hobby, to where I bred various cichlids and sold them to a few of the local pet stores. Many in school thought me odd that I bred fish, and the much more popular kids looked at me like I was some sort of freak. They were swinging bats and chasing balls in fields while I was tending to a dozen aquariums and absorbing all of the knowledge I could on it.

I didn't start getting depressed until after I was in high school. My father had these unrealistic views of what I should do with my life, and my mother became severely overbearing, often making a huge ordeal out of the most menial thing. Most of my late teens and early twenties were spent in front of a computer or book isolated from the outside world. I still had friends, but I lost passion for everything I loved before. I didn't find those passions again until I met my now wife at 27 years old, she gave me the therapy that no true therapist would. She listened to my fears, consoled me when I felt that I'd experienced all life had to offer, and best of all, she never gave up with me. I went from happy-go-lucky, to a cantankerous 20-something, to being me again. I don't know what I'd do without her. I consider the ages of 17 to 27 my lost decade.