A Boy and his Story

Anyone on this site
My Story

I

I've always been told by my dad that I was such a tall baby that the doctor that was delivering me had to stand on his tip toes to pull me out. Do I feel bad for being a freakishly large baby? No. But it was the begining of a great 17 years, 3 months, and about 10 days. I was born on May 27, 1992 in Lafayette, Louisiana. I was a normal cajun boy, in a cajun town, living with my mom (Merry), dad (Dan), and brother (Will). Well in Louisiana there is always something for kids to do outside. So about every day my brother and I would play outside and we would always somehow get muddy, even if the ground was as dry as a bone.

Well one day after, after a large rain, the paddock where we kept our two horses was especially muddy. So my brother and I, being the devilish tykes we were, decided it would be fun to have a mud fight with the mud God previded us. It was a glorious battle and there were no winners. Now that I look back on it was it disgusting? Yeah, but was it fun? Of course. And we didn't care.

Probably the most vivid memory of my time in Louisiana was when my brother and I went ditch swimming. We had a ditch in the front of our yard and one day it had rained especially hard. Well after the rain my brother and I decided it would be fun to go swimming in the murkey depths of the ditch. To my parents, well to my mom, it was disgusting. To my dad it was hilarious. But to my brother and I, it was all good fun, and it was worth it. Believe me.

II

Well it had been four good years of male domination in the Bearden household. My brother and I ruled our house with an iron fist (in our minds anyway), and there was nothing our mom could do about it. Our dad was at work so he didn't factor into the domination. Well on April 10, 1996, my mom did something about it. My sister, Sarah, was born on this day. How could our mom do this to us? In one fell swoop she had foiled our plans for house domination. My brother and I blamed the stork, because back then we didn't know about the birds and the bees.

And so began the tale of the Bearden 5. My sister demanded constant attention, as all babies do, and caused many restless nights in the Bearden household from all of the crying. And then all of a sudden, my parents did something that neither Will nor I expected.

III

About eight months after Sarah was born, we moved to Rutherford County because of my dad's job. We moved to a house that my mom lived in when she was a little girl. Do you think that the unexpected move phased my daily rituals? Heck no. As soon as we got to the new house, I went inside and turned the tv on to watch my favorite show, "Thomas the Train." This move to a new state was the beginning of new adventures for Will, Heather (our next door neighbor), and I. We played just like in Louisiana, and had almost as much fun.

My life in Rutherfordton was not too eventful. I was just a normal kid. I attended preschool at St. Francis. And when I was old enough, I attended Ruth Elementary for kindergarten and first grade. This is where I met my two best friends for those two grades, Lisa Hardin, and Cameron Long. We were tight, and were always hanging out in the class room. But as they say, all good things must come to an end.

One summer day as I was coming in from playing outside, my mom told me I was going to move schools when the second grade started. As you can imagen, I was shocked and appaled. But my mom was boss, so I had too. So when 2nd grade started, I attended Rutherfordton Elementary. This is where I met my current best friend Bennett Evans, though we weren't friends then. I also met Brian Deck, Alex Parker, David, Alex Thompson, and there are probably others that I could mention. I stayed at Rutherfordton Elementary all through out elementary school.

Also while I was in elementary school I began my athletic career. I played soccer, t-ball, and basketball. I played each of those sports for two seasons and quit. I found out about football later on in life, but that story is coming soon.

IV

Well I'm now in sixth grade, some of my friends in elementary school had moved on to Thomas Jefferson, but not me. I attended R.S. Middle. My middle school years were not good years. I was in band and I was on the football team, but I didn't play. Nothing much happened my middle school years, except our big family vacation to Louisiana. During the summer of my 8th grade year we trecked down south to Louisiana. We hadn't been back since we moved and as you can imagine, I was ecstatic. We stayed in New Orleans for three days (pre Katrina) and it was superb. The city has such an amazing atmosphere...I don't really know how to explain it. You have to visit one day. In those three days we toured the city, ate at verious hot spots in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) and just had a good time. After those three days, we moved north to my home town, Lafayette. We stayed there for two days and visited old friends, and looked at our old house. And in Lafayette, I was introduced to Boudin, my favorite cajun food ever. Its rice, spices, pork, and probably some other things that i dont want to know, mixed together and put into a sausage casing. Its a flavor explosion. Its amazing.

After our Louisiana trip, not much happened in middle school. I was now ready for high school, and boy was I ready to get out of middle school.

V

Now I'm a freshman in high school. Was I scared the first day? Not really. But high school was amazing. And this is when I fell in love with football. I actually got coached on what to do and when to do it. And I actually got to play a considerable amount of time. Over past few years I have grown and gotten faster and stronger, and I am now starting for varsity. Take that middle school coaches! I passed my freshman year with flying colors. I was then in 10th grade. High school has now became fun. As a freshman I wasn't too comfortiable.

Now in 10th grade I feel fine and its a good year. I start on JV, and dress out for varsity games. Not much happened in my tenth grade year except for Internation Bazaar. This was such a stressful time that I jumped for joy when I got home. Me and Tyler Cole were partners and did our project on Jamaica. I still think we should have won, but noooooo, some one had to build a skii lodge. Ugh.

Now a junior, I start on varsity at left tackle, and half way through the season I sprain my knee. A week before the East game. Isn't that great? Well suffice to say, I was pretty pissed. I missed the East, Shelby, Kings Mountain, and Burns games. But I ended on a high note and was awesome during the Chase game. I have forgotten the playoff game against Asheville because I have blocked that time from my mind. Take from that what you will. Now a junior, im much more comfortiable at school. I begin to take the SAT, and begin to think about colleges. Eleventh grade was the best year of school I ever had.

I am now a senior typing a paper about my life. I start for varsity still and I'm doing pretty good. This is going to be a good year and I have to make it count because when I graduate its off to college and I repeate the whole process of meeting new people and making new friends. But for now I'm enjoying life and right now, life is good