Chapter 3, Part 1
THE PLANE RIDE WHEN I WAS 10 THAT MADE ME WRITE THIS
Summertime came and to see my mom I took flights/
And on that plane I explained a lady my whole life/
I expressed my pain without knowin' what pain's like/
I remember smilin'…as she would casually write/
She told me…I should write a book about my life/
But everything I explained I thought was a normal kids life/
This is so crazy, and honestly, this is one of the main reasons I even considered writing my entire life story.
When I was on a plane on my way to see my mom for the summer, I sat next to this lady and we didn’t really talk until after the plane took off. I was like 10, so I only remember so much.
I just remember her asking me about things, and I was just a child so I said everything that came to mind. She kept asking me more and more questions, and I’d just answer.
Like, she would ask me about my mom or my dad. I told her my dad died and I lived with my aunt. She asked who I was flying going to see and I told her my mom. That intrigued her, and she kept asking a bunch of questions.
What I remember more than anything is she was writing stuff down. And she said, “Rob, you could write a book about your life.”
I know it sounds stupid, but maybe she said that THEN, so it would stick with me today and I would write it all to help inspire people, you know?
Towards the end of the flight after a long time of talking, she actually told me she was a therapist. As if I didn’t already have enough of those right?
She gave me her card. And she even asked for my home address and stuff like that. But I didn’t give her my real address, because I honestly didn’t know it.
Who knows what she had plans to do. Maybe I told her TOO much and she was like, “Oh, my God, this kid needs to be removed from his household.” I don’t know! I wasn’t being abused or anything, but maybe I just explained too much info.
I remember taking all of my medications out of my bag and showing them to her. She asked me why I was on depression medication because I seem like a happy kid.
I said, “My stepdad says I’m on it cuz my aunt gets stressed.”
I think I can just let you read the lyrics that already explain the whole thing.
Below are the lyrics to an unreleased song I wrote in 2012 called ‘I Can’t Fake It’.
When I was ten, was on an airplane to see my mother/
The one time a year when we see each other/
Sat by a resplendent lady, put my baggage above her/
And for the first 10 minutes neither one of us muttered/
All the sudden, we was talkin' the whole flight/
'Bout 3 hours of me explicating my whole life/
She told me I should write a book about my life/
But I was ten, so I didn’t really know why/
Turned out, she was a therapist, upon hearin' this/
She said, “You could never tell that from extrinsic appearances”/
I said…“I don’t know what that means.” /
She said, “I’m sorry it means pristine or cuz you look so clean.”/
I said, "Oh, I hope that’s a good thing."/
She said it is because I’m strong enough to hide my hatred for things/
Then she mentioned medication/
So I showed her the bottles of what all the doctors had me takin'/
She said this is depression medication, you don't looked depressed?/
I said, "Nah but my step dad says/
I’m on it cause my aunt so stressed."/
Then she looked distressed as I confessed there's more to the mess/
You see this Ritalin, Depicote…/
My uncle says he’s tired of doctors shovin' pills down my throat/
To try to help me cope with this slippery slope/
From bein' free to don't drop the soap/
'Cuz I’ll see prison you know?/