Personal Life

May 28, 1979. That is where it all started. I was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and have never lived more than about 12 miles from my first home. I was raised alongside my younger sister Katrina by my parents Deborah and Gary and have a very close and loving extended family. For the most part the entire family is still local to the Greater Lehigh Valley.

I started school in the Allentown School District and remained there until fourth grade. My parents saw the writing on the wall regarding the Allentown School District and decided it was time to move my sister and me to a better school district. So, prior to the Winter Holiday break I was in the Allentown School District, and afterwards I began my academic career in the Parkland School District.

It wasn't long before I met my best friend Jake. He lived across the street from my new home and I walked over, knocked on the front door and asked if there were any kids inside my age. Mrs. M. invited me in and introduced me to her son Jake. We hit it off that day and have been best friends ever since. As time and work permit we still try to get together from tie to time for lunch. We have a great friendship.

Moving to Parkland was tough. Academically speaking, Parkland was pretty far ahead of where I had come from in Allentown which is pretty much the reason my parents decided to move my sister and me away. While I have always enjoyed learning, I was never much for getting homework done. I usually did very well on tests, quizzes and the like, but I just didn't do much homework. Not getting my homework done as a kid developed bad habits for the rest of my academic career and led to a very average overall GPA upon graduation from high school.

As alluded to, I wasn't much of an academic. I certainly was not a student athlete. I had a very tight-knit group of friends; many of who I stay in touch with to this day. I graduated from high school in 1997 and after some lazy delays started school at Lehigh Carbon Community College. I was not there long before quitting and not doing much else. After a few months I was given the "get a job, go to school or get out" ultimatum and I enrolled at Lincoln Technical Institute in their electronics engineering technology program. I was where I was meant to be. A school of almost nothing but core subjects in a field I had always been interested in. I graduated with a 3.94 overall GPA and landed a job at Lutron Electronics Co., Inc as an electronics technician.

After getting my first "real job" life really started happening for me. I really started to figure out who I was and what I wanted out of life. I pursued hobbies like skydiving, hung out with friends and coworkers. I eventually married, had two wonderful children Owen and Olivia and after some time found myself divorced. That led me to meeting Abby. Abby and I have blended our family of seven together in our home in Topton, PA where we enjoy family time, home projects and getting together with friends.