The Crackerhead Chronicles: The First Crumb

The First Crumb

Introducing…

Howdy!  My name is Jerry Eugene Beuterbaugh.  I was physically born into this world at 2:30 p.m. on November 24, 1957 in Newport, Arkansas, which is around 70 miles northwest of Memphis, Tennessee, and this is an abbreviated account of my life so far.

Now, a great deal of what is contained in this book is for the benefit of my estranged children.  For there will come a time when at least their children will desperately want to know as much about me as they possibly can.

Nonetheless, I do believe that my story will be found to be rather intriguing by others.  For by definition, a crackerhead is someone who crumbles under pressure—regardless of whether real or imagined, and for most of my born-again life, I have felt much more like a spiritual crash-test dummy than any sort of conquering hero of the faith.

No, mine is not another tragic tale of woe.  That is, at least not in the beginning.  For I figure I had a really good childhood in comparison to what far too many others have had to endure.

On the other hand, the rest of my story is debatable.  For in the eyes of this world, I have not met with much success.  In fact, considering the amount of my perceived potential, I have been a miserable failure at almost everything I have endeavored to do, and there is much about my past that I am deeply ashamed of.

Thankfully, the end of my time in this world will not be the end of my existence, and despite just how painful it has been, it does bring me some comfort to now understand that all I have experienced in this world has been for the glory of our Heavenly Father and my ultimate good.

Of course, that may be something you would consider as being absolutely ridiculous.  Before the end of my story so far, I hope you are convinced otherwise.

P.S.: I suppose it is more accurate to say that I have been working on this book my entire life in this world, but it was in 2001 when I first placed it into written form as is.  The writing was very rough, but it was decipherable.

Be assured that I have learned how to write better over the years, but I have left some of the old grammatically-incorrect style intact in certain segments to avoid disrupting the pulse of the prose.  On the other hand, it is probably more about being too lazy to completely rewrite so much.  In any event, if you have a tendency toward grammatical fanaticism, be thou forewarned.