My first son Tony was born when I was only eighteen. I was a still a kid; I wasn't ready to be a dad, so he was put up for adoption and went off to live with a family that could care for him.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Tony knew me both as an athlete and as a person. He cared for me like a father.
My father was adopted. He grew up in the Italian household.
I have one brother, John, an airline pilot, who is seven years younger. He's adopted, though we're still blood related - he's my cousin. My parents couldn't have any more children after me, so when Dad's brother died, they adopted John, then just a baby.
My mother and father split up when I was three and my brother was still in the womb.
I was born to a single mom and raised by her and my grandparents.
I was by far the youngest of the family, and at times it was like being an only child.
My father was raised with brothers, he was a football player and a boxer, he was a chief petty officer in the Navy, he was a man of his times.
I was 28 when my father died, and I was an only child.
My mother was 18 when I was born. She split with my father when I was 6, and married another man when I was about 7. My mother was about 25, my stepfather was about 26, I'm six or seven, I was looking at them and I knew they were just too young.
My daughter arrived when I was five months pregnant with my son. We adopted Melanie from Korea; she was 2 years old, almost 3. I always wanted to have a family. I had a good example because Melissa Hayden was a ballerina in our company, and she had two children and danced afterward, and Allegra Kent also did.