I grew up on a 80 acre farm in a trailer, in the middle of Smith Mills, KY. My brother, mother, and myself were, to put it bluntly, dirt poor. I would go on to suffer emotional and mental abuse from my mother throughout my childhood and into my adult life.

At the age of 16 and 6 stays in Juvenile Detention, the court removed me from my mother's care and into my father's full-time. He, a coal miner of 40 years, now retired, would ultimately shape my passion for social justice, fair labor practice, and equality for all. He has been and is still to this day, the president of his UMWA local 2470. I watched him stage silent sit-ins outside of Peabody HQ in St Louis, and protest Blackrock, yes THE Blackrock in New York, to name a couple. A long with living every day for his sisters and brothers in the UMWA. I am forever grateful.

I made a promise to myself that I would never again put my family through that. That has been my only trip to rehab. Since, I have found the woman I will spend my life with, and started a family. I've dedicated my life to serving others, speaking up for those whose voices have been drowned out by bureaucratic nonsense, and fighting for the working class and poor. I believe the best way I can serve my community is by helping shape the legislation that shapes our lives here in Western KY.

I will tell you exactly how it was & how it is today.

This would lead to a painful and detrimental lifestyle in my late 20s where homelessness and rampant drug addiction were unavoidable. After approaching my father, stepmother, and two sisters, with my plea for help, they obliged.

I'm just a guy. A guy who is a father, a hard worker, college educated, and whose collar and blood are as UK blue as they come. I just want to see my daughter along with all the children in our community have a happy, healthy, wealthy, and safe Kentucky to call home.

I would go on to attend and graduate from the University of Kentucky, where I learned my most precious life lessons. Not without eventually developing a nasty drug addiction after suffering an injury at work.