I grew up in a small community in the south of Minnesota called St. Gaul. We were eight

families, all loosely related. On Gaul's an answer on both sides of the family, along

with grandparents and two outside families, not directly related by blood. It was a remnant

of the hippie era and my mother grew up out there. It was originally meant to be some sort

of farming commune for people who wanted to live on their own terms without going completely

off the grid. It isn't like a religious gathering or a cult, as many believe. It was all about

a different way of life and living closer to the earth. My mother left St. Gaul for a few

years to study sociology and that's where she met my dad. I was an accidental pregnancy and

my dad didn't want to stick around. My mother moved back to St. Gaul and had me in the

early 90s. I was born in the house I grew up in. Life out in St. Gaul wasn't as hard as one

might think. I still went to school and just had to take an earlier bus. We still went into town

at least once a week and I had many friends that I got really close to over the years. Still,

there was always the air of being different around me. My mom explained that a lot of the parents

of the kids at school didn't like the people from St. Gaul because we were different. A bit odd.

My mom was terrified of a lot of things but mostly blood. That was her number one fear

and if I ever hurt myself she would try to cover it up as fast as possible. It was strange because

I saw kids skin their knees at school all the time without anyone freaking out. I never hurt myself

like that since my mom was adamant about me being needlessly careful. It came to the point

where I sometimes had to wear elbow knee guards to school which landed me in plenty of trouble

from bullies. But my childhood came and went. Elementary school turned into middle school which

turned into high school. Things got rough then, fast. On the best days I was a Gaul kid but most

of the time they just called me Jesus freak, cultist or even school shooter. I was branded an

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