I was born May 17, 1979 in San Diego, California to Jean (Griffiths) Zingg and Merle Zingg. About a year and a half later, my parents divorced and my mother moved back to Nebraska, where she'd grown up, taking myself and my older brother, David Ryan from the land of eternal sunshine to the land of corn. I don't hold that against her anymore. Having participated in my conception, Merle apparently felt his parental duties were satisfied, so herein ends his participation in my life.

It was just the three of us for a few years, living in Brule, Nebraska. Days were spent riding my big pink shoe on wheels and nights were spent throwing my orthopedic shoes at the bedroom wall. Life was good.

It was during this part of my life that I met my best friend, Jennifer Kealy. Her mom was my babysitter and we spent a lot of time together. Good friends are the ones who are with you through good times and bad. She was there through the potty-training years, and it doesn't get any badder (or bladder?) than that. I think we can get through pretty much anything after that.

When I was about 4 1/2, Mom met a man named Terry Timm who seemed to like her well enough. But I truly believe our dysfunctional little family unit won him over when I sat on the back of the couch and said, "I see the future" while rubbing his shiny head. They were married in August of that year and we moved to Big Springs.

Ah, Big Springs. Population: 418 (2000). Land area: .4 square miles. That's right not 4, 0.4. Stoplights: 0. And everyone's favorite statistic-number in my graduating class: about 23. More info on Big Springs. For those of you who have never experienced Western Nebraska, this should explain a lot about me. Small town living has it's good points though. Everyone watches out for everyone else, and people always say hello, wave, or even stop their vehicles in the middle of the street to chat. The only time there are traffic problems are during harvest when grain trucks line up in all directions to take a turn at the Co-op.

Anyway, back to me. When I was seven, the parents spawned Jeffrey William, and our family was complete. At first I thought he was the greatest thing ever. Then he learned to talk, and being seven years older, he became the most annoying person I'd ever met. Although I did enjoy dressing him up like a girl, so I guess there were some good times. It only got worse as I approached high school. He was always in the way and was, of course, the center of attention.

The high school years were not the best ones, and I couldn't wait to get out of Big Springs and move to a big city where people didn't know everything before you even did it. So I moved to the huge city of Kearney, Nebraska (pop. 24,000) to attend college.

To be continued...