Back to Celebreality

Back to Celebreality

            Many people would say they fantasized about a childhood like mine. I lived in a very ostentatious mansion in Holmby Hills in western Los Angeles near numerous celebrities. We had two maids, a cook, and a part-time nanny. Unlike many others in the area, my mother made sure that she was the one raising her children. Gretchen, our nanny, was a sweet, older woman who came to care for my brother and me when my parents had an important event to attend. We had cars that had never been driven because they were too expensive to damage. My mother hated the wasteful expenditures my father came home with daily, but she put up with his careless purchasing because she loved him.

Music had always been an enormous factor in my life, and growing up in a household with a well-known producer added an interesting dynamic to my love for it. My father, Brad Jacobson, has worked with huge record labels and taken hundreds of artists from living in small, rundown homes to the big city life. Bands and solo singers regularly dropped by our home. I knew I was a lucky girl because not everyone gets to actually meet their favorite artist and have dinner with them. I always had loads of friends at school because kids loved coming over to my house on the off-chance that someone famous would be show up.

What people always forget are the secrets, lies, and the betrayal that is also associated with my childhood. My parents divorced when I was eleven because, according to court records, my dad spent too much time away from home. At least, that was the story my mother told me. Two weeks after the divorce was finalized, the tabloids released a fascinating article making public a new relationship between my father and singer, Brandy Jones. Naturally, rumor of infidelity spread like wildfire, but my mother denied the accusations, protecting my father from scrutiny. However, I knew her real reason for denial was to allow me to have a healthy relationship with my father without blaming him for the divorce. Her efforts were fruitless, and I made clear to the judge that I would be much better suited living full-time with my mother. My younger brother by two years, Scott, was too young to decide for himself, so the judge allowed my father to take him during the summer and alternating holidays.

We moved back to my mother’s hometown in Texas, and I took my mother’s last name for two reasons: to start over fresh without preconceived judgments and to lose any fame or publicity in association with my father. Even though I was extremely popular in school back in L.A., here I mostly kept to myself, not possessing any lasting relationships. I never fully developed a unique personality as a child. People wanted to be my friends no matter what I was like, so now that nobody knew my familial relations I struggled to make friends. I was always kind to my classmates, but I preferred to stay home on weekends writing songs and practicing piano and guitar. The time by myself allowed me to expand my knowledge of music far past anyone my age. My talents earned me a music scholarship to The USC Thornton School of Music where I would be studying composition.

I would be leaving for California tomorrow, which I had mixed feelings about. On one hand, it was always my dream to study music and become a film score composer. On the other hand, I didn’t want my old life butting into the one I was currently living. My mom wanted me to stay in Texas, but she respected my wishes and agreed to help pay for tuition not covered by the scholarship. Opposite of me, my mother liked the fact that my father would live close. I hadn’t seen him in seven years, and I wasn’t sure how we could ever have a normal relationship. Sure, he called a few times a year to see how I was doing, but I mostly evaded his questions. That is something that I regret. I was extremely mad at him for the divorce when I was a child, but growing up has taught me to hold on to any relationships that I have. He was going to pick me up at the airport, so the moment of truth was not far out of reach. For now, I decided sleep was more important than letting my brain wander

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Hi to anyone reading this,

This is just an introduction to the story. I'm getting all over the boring stuff out of the way early! If you stick with me, I promise the story will pick up very soon, and the chapters will be much longer! Thanks for reading it!