From day one my mom was my biggest advocate, always telling me I could do anything.
To teach me to swim, she threw me in the deep end. “Sink or swim, Shane.”
By the time I turned 7 yo, it was no secret that she was hoping I was gonna be an “Ashley..”.
While most boys were playing soccer and flag football, she had me singing, dancing and acting.
“You memorize those damn lines and get the lead part every time, Shane!”
I did.
At 14 yo, I was done with the stage. A move to Alabama and my hormones awry, I took to cigarettes, weed, drinking and mastered shoplifting and skateboarding.
Still my biggest fan, she insisted, “you got nothing else going on...you gotta try out for wrestling.”
I assured her I wasn’t a “fag,” and that I’d never wear a singlet.
Two weeks later I was on the mat, wrestling in my Sneakers...”you’re going to be the best wrestler, ever, Shane. I’ll buy you shoes on my next paycheck...”
That season, I lost 32 straight matches.
3 years later I received a college wrestling scholarship.
5 years after that, I was going to graduate school on an academic scholarship to study medicinal chemistry.
Here we are above, just casually hanging out doing mom and son pics...but every moment I’m with her, I’m always thinking how strong her love was for me regardless of how bleak my future looked.
The least I can do is to always strive to be the “do anything kid” - not the conformist, adult zombie curated by society and government to play small and follow the weak ass status quo - that my mom believed in!
And that's when I went head first into chemistry, medicine and soap.
It's been almost 25 years since I decided to pay her back by being the kid she believed in, through chemistry.
Sadly, most science has been hijacked for corporate gain. That was the impetus for my earliest, award winning books.
And they paid off!
Just today, after many hours of quality control and inventory, I have sad news! I'm on a LOW STOCK ALERT for:
I plan on being out by Monday...
Dare to live young!
The People's Chemist |
