I struggled as a kid to get attention. My parents seperated when I was 10. My Mom went straight to NYC and would come home every other year. I remember her being very strict.....her standards were very high, and I remember getting slapped so many times. I was really a good kid then. I would try my best ti make everyone happy. However, one day I woke up, and she was gone!

My Dad was my idol growing up. He never got mad. He was always away though. He would go to his farm and stay there for days. He also had this "Peter Pan Syndrome"........never wanting to get old. He would always tell people that he stopped counting in his 30s.

I have an older sister and brother. I guess you can say that I grew up with them as my pseudo parents. I know for a fact that till this day, I would listen more when my sister speaks than my Mom.

Growing up as the youngest boy in a big family (cousins included) really was hard. I would always get bullied by the other boys (my bother included). I remember that I had to pay off some of my cousins with my lunch money just for them to stop!........That sets the stage heading in to my teen-age years.

I started getting mad.......always! I would take it out on my classmates in school. I would do worse things to them, and when I get really angry, I would look for fights with boys from other schools. I have fought so many times.....I can't count them anymore. I almost got killed once, I was beaten up by a politician's son, together with his bodyguards. I was lucky I was able to get out of that incident in one piece. Everything was really a blur during those years. I'm just grateful to my family and friends for being there......if not, who knows where I would be.

I started working right after college. I actually was better at work than I was in school. I was always focused. I had my disappointments as well, but they were just tools for me to jump back in. I would work harder....to the point that my world became just my work. I was determined to succeed, and climb the corporate ladder as fast as I can..... I did, and was given the GM position at the age of 30

I got married pretty young. I was 25, and wanted to settle down. I was sick of the dating scene. I married a very nice and sweet young lady. She comes from a conservative family, and I thought she would always be there for me. I remember one of my closest friends telling me that I am lucky because I will grow old gracefully with her.......and I believed it!

Coming from a broken home, really gave me a scare on having children. I was scared that if I was not emotionally and finacially solid....my family will suffer. As the years went by, my wife started getting affected by the notion of not having children.

My father in law, a self-made man, has always told me that if I want to further succeed in life, America is the place to be. He would share his stories, and I would listen.......I admired him for what he accomplished, and I guess the idea always lingered in my mind. The situation in the country I was living in was not getting any better. In fact, it was really getting worse.

One day I just got fed up! I asked my wife if she wanted to try it out, and she said YES! I resigned from my GM position, and Regional management couldn't understand why......I just told them because of personal reasons......I had to go. It was a crazy move, but life is all about decisions and risks..........If we were to do it.....it should be immediate because we were not getting any younger.

We sold everything and left for the U.S. Reality quickly set in, and it came hard! I had to wait for a year to get my documents, and my wife, who was an american, was working. She started out in a retail outlet, and slowly moved up. I started feeling useless, and just didn't know what to do. The thought of leaving the life I had, was haunting me daily.

I decided to go to Grad. School. I was able to get financial aid from the government, was accepted in a very good school. I would go to school and spend a lot of time in the library. I wanted to focus my energy in learning, and re-gain my confidence.

My wife has successfully landed a job in a global company. She was on her way to a successful career. We bought a 2 bedroom condo in a nice area on NJ. We took a risk because if we don't buy, we would be priced out of the area we wanted to live in.

to be continued.....