Athena ... Antebellum

blood sweat and sand ... castles

My father still jokes to this day about my first cry when the dr got me to take my first breath. He teases me saying I had a set of lungs Leonidas himself would have lived to possess. Pops was always a fan of warriors his favorite was always the Spartans. I was born at 0500 on a Tuesday dad always said I was 2 hrs early for reveille the 7am call to wake for the navy. I was the new princess of 2 American dynasties from my fathers side the defenders of the masses who in the mid 1900s started designing weapons for war and protection that made there mark in WW2 and is a global entity today my father being the only son and OIC (OFFICER IN CHARGE) of SEAL TEAM 3 stationed out of Coronado. My mother Jocelyn was a a list actress and had been since childhood my Grandmother and Grandfather met in the UK where they performed in the west end on numerous productions before making the jump over the pond to tinsel town where they found there calling and there fortune. Me, im the Princess of both worlds. I had my father's sharp edges and blonde hair combined w my mother's full lips and as people magazine called them her luminous emerald eyes smh from my first printed photo at 6 months old the public deemed me The Heiress blessed w a empires wealth and a goddesses beauty. The public was bewitched. My early years we had language tutors who spent hrs as nannies speaking only there native language from Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and of course English, I guess what they say babies are like sponges is true because I've always been able to speak 4 languages. The first years of my life were uneventful I went for runs (in my special back pack carrier) w my father as he worked out on the beaches, it was our quality time and some extra weight on his back when he trained. And went with my mother sometimes to the studios as I got older which I adored since it was make believe in the best possible way. When I turned 6 I asked my father what he and his Team did. Why they trained and why they carried guns and wore the weird uniforms. He explained we protect those who need protecting. We put a end to evil and bring down fury and destruction on anyone who tries to destroy our peace. As a child I was mesmerized by both worlds mom made beautiful stories and sometimes her voice was on my favorite cartoons!! And dad he was my knight. My first ken and barbie were not ken and barbie lol I had moms stylist die her hair brunette and they were my parents one who lived numerous fantasies while one protected her and as I played and learned I made my own fantasy. I saw it clearly I was both I was the protector of them both and capable of my own beautiful stories that I made up and acted out in my childhood mind. From birth to 7 was bliss. 
I had private tutors that taught only the basics of what I'd need in every day life choir gym homeroom music was out the window, which left me w alot of time for the things I loved. My family. Of course growing up me was strange paparazzi everywhere !!! Especially when I got a child's modeling contract and my first agent (moms agent) before I was 6. Shortly after that I got a few bit parts in movies and TV shows thats where I thrived as a kid it was AMAZING to play make believe as I saw it, I even got to be a princess in one commercial and wore a beautiful lavender dress w a tiara and all!!! BUT as with all of our early years, they passed too fast. 
It was a whirlwind of outdoor activities w dad running and playing in the sand as I called it, or training and fitness as dad called it .. personally I liked my play more that training even though it was the same thing. From my elementary school days or what would have been I found sports, and realized I hit the genetic lottery when it came to athletics, and the ingrained belief drilled into me since birth that my body is my temple and I am in charge of it, me and only me the only thing that can stop be or break me was me! As pop always said ,"your mind is in control of your bod! ALWAYS, it is mind over matter  Athena, if you don't mind it don't matter!" On my fifth birthday while other kids had back packs i had a custom made GUCCI rucksack w Versace camies!!! Even a pair of Louboutin combat boots complete w red soles!!!  Mom said if your going to dress like dad u may as well do it in STYLE !!! I WAS ALL IN 😆!! I spent a hour a day on cardio w dad followed w 30 min shadow work as dad called it his form was more krav maga so that became my first martial arts I learned, I was a mini bad ass, and loved to see dad laugh when I got mad at myself for not being stronger or faster. Until I had as he called it a " glorious mind fart of a meltdown" and sat me down in the sand on SEAL Beach and told me something I will remember FOREVER. " ATHENA!! Its ok to make mistakes in practice. Thats why you train, thats why we train the way we do! So when the time comes and it is time to save those who need to be saved we act. Our bodies act on instinct borne from hundreds of hours of repetitive actions so we know what to do on instinct! You will always find someone stronger or faster out in the world, what separates the true warrior the true protector is there heart and will. A fighter w more will a warrior who refuses to be beaten can end up victorious. The heart of a true warrior separates them from all others. NEVER QUIT! NEVER SURRENDER! PICK your fight and don't stop until the objective is complete." In that moment that thought was a catalyst, a corner stone for me for everything I accomplished or would try to accomplish through life, anything I start I would achieve, I found my place in my fathers world! Learned in my early years DUTY HONOR COURAGE were not just fancy words they were a code to live by. Like the Spartans of old the code still lived on today in so many elite organizations. Time passed, I grew and adapted added more martial arts forms nin jitsu, kung fu and Greco-Roman wrestling, all morphed to MMA gyms later, since pops was a stickler for self defense as " NO CHILD OF MINE WILL BE WITHOUT THE MEANS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES, AND DO SO W SWIFT BRUTAL ENDINGS" GOD i miss so much of my childhood. The hunting, camping, fishing, small arms training pistols Glock 19 was a beautiful deadly weapon but the m9 took the cake and became my fav side arm. But my m24 rifle was definitely my favorite long distance rifle and I fell in LOVE with the good ol m16. Much later in life we got into the more advanced training but early on it was all weapons hand to hand and INTENSE physical training. Those were dad times and I adored them, I loved to spend time w his teams learn from some of them hear there funny jokes (dad didn't like alot and got mad when he caught me cussing like a sailor as he called it). That part of my youth was what I deemed blood sweat and sand...castles 😃