An interview with Michelle Theer: Her early life
Q. The early days?
A. Well, my dad was in the military, the Air Force, and we moved around a lot. I was born in Abilene, Texas, but we moved, I think about a year after I was born, to Little Rock, Ark., and we were there for just a couple of years, and we moved somewhere in England, about three years. . . When we came back, we lived in Charleston, S.C., and that is where my brother [Tommy] was born. And I went to school. . . first, second, and third grade, in Charleston. I have a lot of good memories from Charleston. . . we lived on the base, and they had woods back behind our house. I remember having a treehouse, and there was a little stream that ran back through the trees. . . That is the part of my childhood where I can remember riding bikes with my friends, and playing in the treehouse.
Q. You were 7 or 8 years old at the time.
A. Yeah. That's kind of that time in my life when I can remember those wild tomboy years, playing outside until the very last moment possible when it was getting dark and my dad having to come out and whistle for me to come in. . . Then we moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . We were in Colorado Springs, I think, fourth, fifth, sixth grades, for three years, and my sister [Angela] was born there. . . . The tone of those years was darker. . . I thought at first it was OK, my sister was born, and my parents were happy then, but my dad went overseas for a year to Korea, and my mom put me in this private Christian school that was very. . .
Q. Strict.
A. Yeah. I don't like the use word fanatical, but really that's what it was. And when my dad got back from Korea, my parents were starting–they did start having problems. . . .
Q. What was your dad in the military, a mechanic?
A. Yeah, he was a heavy-equipment mechanic.
Q. You moved from Colorado Springs to Denver?
A. Yeah. When he came back [from Korea], he got transferred to Lowry Air Force Base, and my parents were having problems, and he was moving in and out, back and forth, and that went on for about a year. . . .
Q. When you talk about the darker days, it was the trouble between your parents?
A. It was the trouble between my parents, and it was the school and the church we were going to. It was a very oppressive religion, very. . . It was Southern Baptist. . . . We had always gone to church. But when I think about that church, and that particular school, I think about the image of a very angry, unforgiving God, a very punishing God who is standing over you and just watching every mistake that you make. And you are going to make mistakes, and you are going to burn in hell for them, you know what I am saying. . . . At the time, it made me very fearful. And I think that their goal was to make you, to scare you into obedience, to scare you into memorizing Bible verses, and at that particular time, that is what it did, and it did for several years. It scared me into obedience. . . .
Q. Do you practice any particular religion now?
A. I am studying now, yes. . . . Since December of 2003, I have been studying the Jehovah's Witnesses. . . .
Q. What drew you to the Jehovah's?
A. Love . . . Their expressons of love and the God that they have shown me is a very loving God. He is very forgiving, very loving, very warm, very nurturing, very fatherly.
Q. How long did you stay in Denver?
A. We ended up staying there permanently.
Q. That was 1986, is that right? I think that's what your mom told me.
A. She would know the exact year better. They ended up getting separated for a period of time and finally ended up getting a divorce.
Q. You described a period of your life, from first to third, from fourth to sixth grades. What was going on in seventh, eighth, ninth?
A. I would describe that as more of a chaotic time. High school was kind of chaotic because, you know, when we first moved to Denver, my dad was in and out, back and forth, I really didn't know if my parents were going to stay together or get divorced. There were a lot of times when I wished that they would just get it over with and get divorced. . . .
Q. Was his being away and his fights with your mom–how big an impact did that have on you?
A. I am sure it had a huge impact on me. . . I think my relationship with my dad fuels a lot of my relationships even now. I still even now struggle with my relationship with my dad.
Q. Does he come and see you?
A. He has not come and seen me here yet. He has written and sends me money, and he takes my phone calls. . . . He is completely 100 percent supportive of me. . . . My mom came out here; she's been out here twice. . .
Q. When you say your high school days were chaotic, how were they chaotic? Drugs?
A. Actually, I didn't go through any of that teenage stuff. I didn't experiment with drugs at all. . . . The first time I had ever gotten drunk [was] the week that I graduated from high school. When I say chaotic, I mean with my dad moving in and out of the house. My mom had to go to work full time. . . I had to stay home and take care of my brother and sister. . . . My freshman year in high school, I was a cheerleader, and I was on the volleyball team, and I was in the choir. But then my sophomore year, I had to drop out of all of that because I had to come home after school to watch my brother and sister. I had to cook dinner and fold the laundry. It was like I was a housewife, which I just hated. . . . They [her parents] were just separated. Actually, he went back to Korea for a year my sophomore year of high school. I think when he got back was when their divorce was final. . . .
Q. What was your mom doing then?
A. She was working in sales for the Wall Street Journal [in Denver]. . . .
Part 2: Marty–"He was really a nice guy"