Selection from the Memoir

"As best I can recall, my parents were circus people. My earliest memories are from the backseat of a circus wagon, where I travelled with the clowns. I spent countless hours watching the country zig-zag across my window, while listening to the often forlorn and sometimes hopeful ramblings of my dream-struck greasepainted companions.

The rest of my memories take place under the bigtop, where we lived with an a cappella group who began their career (before my time) as, "The Finches," and have since become known as "The Cookies." My loving parents' decorative esthetic is what I would now refer to as "Carnie Rococco." For what we lacked in space, we abounded in costumes, animals, show quality A/V equipment, dramatic lighting, and acrobatics manuals. I look back fondly upon those days and sometimes wonder aloud, "What WAS that smell?"

-Excerpted from page 121 of, "Gypsy Child Chronicles: Volume 1."