Reflections on my birthday. I was born some time ago, today, September 26. I didn’t have the greatest of personal upbringings due to being in a single parent household but today I give glory for that household and the people who raised me. The bible begs the question “Am I my brothers keeper?” The answer to this question is very personal for people and one that dives deep into religion and philosophy.
Hollywood Actor Jeronimo Spinx to appear on CBS' Criminal Minds
I was the youngest boy growing up in my household. I have two brothers and one sister. My oldest brother James Lee Spinks was much older than my other two siblings as my mother had him 16 years before her next child, Jeronimo Spinx. My brother Jeronimo and I did everything together. He was a few years older than me but really served as my leader, my big bro, and in a role as my father even though he wasn’t too much older than me.
My mother put him in this role to lead our family due to personal reasons that I am writing in a movie script and book deal. Jeronimo was it. He had to do the grocery shopping, sign the checks because my mother couldn’t read and write, he had to speak to the teachers regarding me sometimes, and overall keep me in check at school and protect me in my neighborhood in Peoria, Illinois.
Jeronimo Spinx was my defacto leader and I learned everything from him. He taught me frisbee, electric football, and how to play football. He was a power lifter in high school and won trophies that inspired me to then follow him into powerlifting meets. He was friends with two kid leaders that would also become my inspiration and lift me up: Brad Blakey and Mike McLaughlin. Because my brother knew them, the seniors in high school didn’t haze me as bad when I was a sophomore.
My brother Jeronimo has gone on to have an illustrious career as an actor in Hollywood California and starred on the FOX hit series 24 and is starring this October 2009 on CBS’s Criminal Minds. But more than that for me, this cat was my leader and my hero. Without him, I would not have made it to where I am today. He did not have to be my keeper yet he did despite feeling crazy himself in a whirlwind household steeped in depression, loneliness, and erratic mood swinging behavior from our moms.
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