I grew up fast as well. I was born with two highly religious parents. My father, Senior Pastor of a popular Dallas church, and my mother, the Director of Corporate Communications and lead journalist for a religious based newspaper. I was always told, “You look just like your daddy!” or I was called “Little Dee.” I loathed being called “little” or “young,” so I forced myself to grow up fast. I started my teenage early by rebelling everything that I was forced to do. By high school, I was smoking and drinking as if I was doing it for decades. I was tattooed (still am) and pieced, but I wanted that taste of adulthood so badly. I even dated men who were so very much older than I was. My path of self-destruction was covered by the only fact that my mind set was stuck on “I’m grown! I’m grown! I’m grown!” Now that I’m an actual adult, I miss those days of my youth and innocence. I can no longer blame my accidents on my childish ways. All because I wanted to grow up.