Introduction
August 1982
The summer before high school was rapidly drawing to a close. I was filled with trepidation, angst, and self-doubt. I had millions of questions and no answers. I wanted to know how and when I would become a man. I wanted to know what it was, exactly, that defines a man. Is it simply the sum total of all of the physical changes, the loss of virginity or the ability to be self-sufficient? I pondered questions like these endlessly sometimes to the point of shouting them out loud into an empty sky, but no one answered. Instinctively I knew that time would move forward regardless of whether I found the answers, and with no concern whatsoever about the fact that I felt utterly unprepared.
