AshleighKrenz

Family

The House

This is where we currently live.

Yeah. It's okay. My bedroom is behind the tree, so you can't really see it. It's one of the smallest rooms in the house, but I'm okay with that. I should be moving out eventually, since I am graduating next year.

Growing up blows...

Dad: Timothy Krenz

This is my dad right after he had brain surgery to remove a tumor, which he underwent sometime when I was in Elementary School. I don't really remember being too concerned about his health back then, because he and my mother kept me from knowing how truly sick he was. He had two surgeries, and today he is doing fine. (Really, I used this picture because it's one of the only ones I have on my computer.)

My dad and I didn't get along when I was in high school... which is mostly my fault. He always showed me so much love, but I resented him and his job for having to make us move from Virginia to Pennsylvania. I had to leave all my friends, namely my best friend Laura. Without Laura I was forced to stand on my own two feet and develop my own identity. I didn't like having to do that very much, so I took out all my aggression on my dad (before eventually taking it out on myself.)

My dad is actually the most accepting of me and my sexuality/ androgynous nature out of my two parents. Since my mother has such a problem with me "looking like a lesbian", my dad always offers to take me shopping, and is always stressing that he knows that I was born gay, and that he loves me unconditionally.

Mom: Cherie Krenz

Oh... my mother.

What is there to say about my mother?

The above picture was taken at The Philadelphia Folk Festival in 2003. I was just about to leave for my freshman year of college, and the friend I was supposed to take with me to the festival backed out at the last minute. So the ticket wouldn't go to waste, I invited my mother to come along with me (do I need to mention that I didn't have many friends around this time?). This was the first time I ever saw Ani DiFranco live, and it was amazing. My mother and I both really enjoyed the music (and she's not even all that into folk!) and we communicated better than we ever have.

Today my mother and I get along well. There is still tension about my sexuality and my appearance, but she tries very hard to be accepting.

Bro: Alex Krenz

Okay... now I know you all are going to think that I have my own bias here, but I swear to you that my brother is the most talented individual I have ever encountered.

He's 18, and is just finishing his Junior year at Sanford School in Delaware. I'm sad to say that I don't know all the legistics of where his voice career is taking him currently. I do know that this summer he's enrolled in a camp/program that is associated with Julliard School of Music, which is the most notorious and prestegious music school in the United States.

I always say that I'm my brother's biggest fan. I still believe this is true. He's such an amazing person. Sure... sometimes his ego gets in the way, but I really can't blame him for being egotistical. You would be too if you had his voice!

Anyway... I'm finished bragging about him. Just go to his website!

Sistah: Natalie

Natalie is probably the coolest kid I've ever met. She's so completely open minded, which I find amazing because when I was in 6th grade my friends and I were going in chat-rooms on AOL to harass homosexuals as a way to keep us entertained. A bit ironic, huh?

So, when my sister went into fourth grade (even though my mother had requested that I not) I made a point of coming out to her. The conversation went something like:

Since that moment my sister has become the youngest advocate I know! She will come home from school grumpy because all her classmates use the word "gay" to describe something that's "stupid".

Natalie is also a wonderful dancer. She's been dancing since she was two (her part in the tap number "Deep In The Heart of Texas" stole the show!). Since then she has improved so so much in 10 years. She's a member of the "Kicks! School of Dance" company, and she dances almost every day of the week.

She's currently in 6th grade at Sanford School along with my brother in Delaware. She's doing very well, and I'm so incredibly proud of her.

Permanent Pet: Cleopatra (Cleo)

This probably isn't the best picture of Cleo, but it is definitely the most amusing! I caught her mid-yawn.

Cleo is 19 years old. I've had her since I was two, and she is the love of my life. Everyone is amazed she's lived for as long as she has. I maintain that the reason she's stuck around for so long is either one of two things: either she's a resilient and wonderfully fuzzy little thing that loves me too much to leave this life (and, of course therein me), or wishing on stars really does get you somewhere (since I wished on every star in the sky, as a kid, that she would live forever.

She sure is a squisher though, isn't she?