I was born in New York, in the month of October. The sting of cold was already in the air. My grandmother had flown up from Texas to help my mother and to meet me. My grandfather however, had stayed in Texas to manage his business. As I would learn later in life, he was a terrible alcoholic. Some people get amorous when they drink or just go to sleep. He got mean. My mother had prayed for him to stop drinking for as long as she could remember– but didn't think he ever would.  So it wasn’t a surprise when he decided in a drunken state to drive…