Ted was born on September 25th, 1965 in a very poor part of
Lowell, Massachusetts. He had 5 older siblings. His father was a
WW2 veteran and an alcoholic. Ted's father passed away when
he was about 6. His older sister passed away when he was a young
age, too. Ted's mother began dating a man named Jim, and was
often never home.
Ted went to a typical high school. But, upon realizing that he
most likely would not go to college because he didn't have
the money, he transfered to a tech school. There he studied
business. He graduated high school at only 17 and, after being
kicked out of his house, he joined the Air Force.
He was first stationed in Witchita, Kansas. There he met a woman
named Kris. When the two were both 21, they married. The Air
Force brought the couple many places. After Kansas, they lived in
Okinawa, Japan, Sacramento, California, and Abilene, Texas. While
in Texas, after years of trying, Ted's wife gave birth to
twins--one boy and one girl.
The family then moved to Anchorage, Alaska. While there, Ted was
sent off to Italy because of the Kosovo War. There he loaded
planes for NATO, etc. He came back and, a few years after, the
family was sent to New Jersey.
Ted was in the Air Force for 21 years. He was a senior master
sergeant** when he retired.
Promotion to senior master sergeant is the most difficult
enlisted promotion to attain in the Air Force. It is the first
enlisted grade to which results of a central promotion board are
the primary factor in selection for promotion. Usually, less than
ten percent of eligible master sergeants are selected for
promotion to senior master sergeant in most years.
The family then moved from New Jersey to Oro Valley, Arizona
because his wife had a job offer there. After living there for
only a year, the family moved to Massachusetts, where they have
lived for the past 8 years. He currently works for a company
that aids the military.
Happy Father's Day, dad.