@vincent.rocco.vargas hit me up a few days ago asking if he had my permission to post this picture of us from back in the day when we were in grade school. I’m assuming he was asking because I look busted, haha. I want to share a little backstory of this chubby faced crooked teeth chapped lipped kid but first I want to acknowledge Vince. To me he was the cool kid. He was popular. He was a good athlete (we also played baseball against each other in little league). He was someone who I admired. When I see this picture, I see so much more then what meets the eye. At this point in my life that this picture was taken I was going through it. By this point I had seen the man I adored (my birth father) hit my mother which had enough of an impact on me that I wanted nothing to do with him (I didn’t even use my legal last name till I had to as an adult). I had been bit in the face by a dog I trusted which traumatized me for many years (Doctor said I was lucky I didn’t lose my eye. And that if the dog wanted to really do damage he could’ve ripped off my face). Then I had a severe head injury. Fractured my skull. Had to see a psychologist. Put into a special ed program and diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and prescribed an experimental drug at the time called Ritalin. That’s shit fucked me up but also helped at the same time. By this point in my life I had been molested by someone who use to take care of me from time to time. Someone I considerd a friend. Then my mom, myself and my little sister picked up and moved to the San Fernando Valley w/ my now step father. Where I ended up going to this school. I was picked on a little bit for being chubby which I was sensitive about. I remember taking a shower praying to lose weight (so dramatic, I know). I had gotten into a couple of little fights because I was so sensitive about it. Anyways, my point in sharing this backstory is to say adversity in life can either make you or break you but it’s YOUR CHOICE. So don’t play the victim in your own story. Be the hero. This same kid was out in Mexico helping build a home for a mother and her children this past weekend w/a bunch of Avengers. 💪🏽😉