Life Begins (25 page)

I think he has sometimes gotten
into trouble for not following the gender norms of our society. In
eleventh grade some guys made fun of him when he admitted that he
knew how to sew when we had projects due that required sewing. He
sees it as a skill and not as women’s work. He learned how to do it
from his grandmother. He used to make sock puppets.

He knows how to cook and isn’t
ashamed to admit it. While he doesn’t feel like there is anything
wrong with a man doing this, he has an insult ready if any woman
should seem surprised by it. “It’s not that hard. Women have been
doing it for centuries.” That was his response to me when I found
out he had made a cake entirely from scratch.

He knows how to clean and decorate
a house. He knows women’s clothing and will tell me not to buy
certain outfits because they don’t look good on my body
type.

The man is known as much for his
romance books and films as he is for his comedies. I’ve gotten two
responses for this. “Even Master Splinter had his love of his
soaps. A civilized man recognizes and appreciates the qualities of
a good romance or drama in his society.”

He has also said, “My dear child,
don’t you know I’m becoming the master of a genre that is dominated
by women? Whereas women present what they think they want, I am
giving them something I have heard they don’t want. But with women
being illogical creatures, they actually prefer the very thing they
say they don’t want. It has always been the cornerstone of any
relationship between a man and a woman. Plus, if you notice, I
objectify myself. It is the most brilliant way I know of to get
myself voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive.”

Being Jack, I would guess the
answer lies in an obsession over the female creature he doesn’t
understand. We wants nothing more than to understand the object of
his obsessions. The two subjects he has never been able to
comprehend are women and love. Nobody has written satisfactory
books to explain it to him, so he does his own research and records
his own observations to somehow make sense of it.

Afterword

When I turned in this assignment, there wasn’t
an ending to the story. Christine and I still had the rest of our
senior year together. I knew that she had written a section that I
wasn’t supposed to read, and I didn’t read it until just a few days
ago. Things probably would have turned out differently if I had
read it back then. I don’t think that matters anymore.

Okay. Here’s the thing. The night before I
turned in this assignment, Christine copied and pasted the
Restricted Access section into my manuscript with the promise that
I would never read it. And in typical Christine fashion, she was
able to cuddle up to me in bed and not give on that she was going
to break up with me. And in an even more typically Christine
fashion, she agreed to marry me when I proposed that we eloped on
the night of her eighteenth birthday. And in my mother’s typical
fashion, she managed to walk in on me and Christine as we were…
Well, let’s just say that we were doing what married couples do. I
don’t want to say much more. It might sacrifice my reputation as a
gentleman. Let’s just say that my mother walked in on about the
fourth round of my honeymoon activities.

Honestly. We had the door shut. I don’t know
why parents think that they can just barge in on teenagers when the
door is closed. I don’t care if they knock first. You wouldn’t just
knock on a door and then open it without waiting for the person
inside to respond first. There is usually a reason the door is
closed.

Looking back on it now, we shouldn’t have
gotten married. The sexual tension was beginning to become too
much. Since Christine was now an adult, she had full legal custody
over her body. I thought that if we got married, we could have the
happily ever after that we had both always wanted. And we were
happy. Our parents were not happy. Even my mom was not happy. I
think it would have been different if we had not eloped, and if we
had not gotten married while we were still in high
school.

I might have been selfish in marrying her. I
figured that it was the only way that I could be with her without
God objecting. If I followed His rules, I thought that even He
could not tear us apart. It might have been childish on my
part.

We were married for seven months, two weeks,
and four days before the marriage was annulled. I then left for
college and started on the path to becoming the Jack Gunthridge
that you know and love today.

Much has changed from when I wrote my life
story. My love for Christine has never changed. No matter how many
times she breaks my heart, I still find it within my heart to
forgive her. She is and will always be my Israel.

Jack Gunthridge

About the Author

Jack Gunthridge is a high functioning
autistic. He won’t comment on the actual truth of this book. Just
know it was written when he was growing up. Truth became mixed with
fiction to a very large degree. And know if he acts a little weird
in public, it is because he doesn’t know how to be a celebrity
yet.

If you would like more information about Jack
Gunthridge, you can stalk him on Facebook. He accepts all friend
requests and responds to all messages. In addition to friending
him, you can also become a fan of him and his works.

For more information about his film career,
you can check out his page on IMDB.

Other Works

Available Now on DVD

Thursday

Fairy Tale Romance

The Gunthridge Show: The Complete
First Season

The Gunthridge Show: The Complete
Second Season

Available Now at Bookstores and on
E-Readers

Life (The original version of this
book)

Broken Hearts Damaged Goods

Out of the Blue Nights of Death and Desire

(Out of the Blue Series Book 1)

Out of the Blue Whispers in the Dark

(Out of the Blue Series Book 2)