My father was in the air force; my mother was English. My father was stationed in England. I believe my mother worked on the Base Exchange, the store. Dad was Italian, mother was English. When my parents married, my mother already had my brother, Robin Gordon. They were married a year and then I was born. At that time, Robin was six. He’s all English; we have different fathers.

Dad was a pilot in the Air Force in WW II; he has all sorts of medals and awards. My mother was an ambulance driver and paramedic in WWII in London. She had shrapnel scars on her shins from the London bombing. I don’t remember the name of the airbase where my father was stationed. I have no stories about how mom and dad met.

We Move to America

After I was born, we came to the US on the Queen Mary; I was five. My father was stationed in Texas. When I was born I was the darkest baby ever to be born in this English hospital! They took me around and showed me to everyone because they couldn’t believe I was so dark-skinned with such black hair.

Then I came here to the US. We landed in NY and had to drive from NY to Texas. We stopped in Ohio because my father’s Italian side of the family lived in Cleveland. I had a birthday on my way to Texas. That’s the only time I remember spending time with the Italian side of the family. They were not your typical Italian family; they weren’t close. I wasn’t close with Robin, either, as he was six years older than me. We tormented each other. He went away to college and I wasn’t even in high school. But now that age difference matters less now. We weren’t close growing up, but now we are.