Ian:
Life has shown me many forms of grief. From childhood to adulthood, I was taught only one thing, and that was to be tough.
To learn that, I had to pass through different kinds of pain. A mother who was not there. A father whose attention was lost most of the time or was always working. I had a stepbrother who was always thinking of ways to hurt me.
Then I went to live with my great grandfather.
My grandfather used to draw monsters. I would sit beside him for hours, staring at those monsters.
For a long time, my life became nothing but monsters. Even my nightmares were filled with monsters. Every time he drew a picture, he showed it to me, then explained what the monster did and what kind of powers and weaknesses it had.
Since I had nothing better to do, I just sat and listened to him. Then I would close my eyes and imagine the monsters walking around me.
