Stephen’s story | “My Dad wasn’t there.”

by Them Before Us | Jun 14, 2019 | EXPORT, Stories

For the most part, Dad was the breadwinner and Mom was the disciplinarian. There were times when Dad would discipline my brother and me, but mostly he just wanted to horse around with us. He was a big kid himself. Perhaps because I’m the younger child, or because I...

Elizabeth Garrott’s story | “To me, my father had died, and there was no changing that. I was looking at a shell of the man I once knew.”

by Them Before Us | Jun 3, 2019 | Stories

My parents were married in their early twenties as a lot of couples typically do. I was born a couple years later in 1976. I grew up knowing the love of my mother and father in a normal household. I was particularly close to my father as a lot of young girls are. They...

Jeremy’s story | “My brother and I were competition for my dad’s affection from his gay lover.”

by Them Before Us | Apr 30, 2019 | EXPORT, Stories

My mom and dad married in 1967.  Early on, it was clear (according to my mom) that dad was more interested in his music (big piano player) than he was in actually taking care of two little boys.  My twin brother and I would be in our cribs, crying (needing to be...

Corbin’s story | “Most of my youth [my mom] was a lesbian. My father decided that he has always been a woman.”

by Them Before Us | Nov 28, 2018 | EXPORT, Stories

My parents were allegedly a common law marriage, but the state they lived in didn’t recognize common law marriage at the time, so far as I can tell. They were hippies, my father was a drunk and a junkie, my mother left him when I was 2 and my brother 4. My...

Samantha’s story | “In Kansas there were no women, only Dad and Billy and my baby brother.”

by Them Before Us | Nov 4, 2018 | EXPORT, Stories

I was kidnapped when I was 8 months old. My father snuck me out of a diner in Albuquerque, NM while my mother was in the bathroom. My father moved me around quite a bit and stayed off the grid as much as possible to avoid detection from my mother. In Denver Colorado...