chapter 1

Cory was always chubby and painfully shy. He was the fattest kid in his class throughout his school years, was always the last one chosen on teams and, more often than not, left out of, or didn't participate in the social events the other kids did. He didn't really have any friends to speak of, and certainly no girl friends as the other boys had in high school. He was often the butt of jokes and caustic comments and learned to act indifferently towards them, but inwardly, they caused him a good deal of pain.

His parents had married rather late in life, and his mom was almost forty years old when Cory was born. He would remain an only child. None of his parents had any siblings and he barely remembered his grandparents as all of them were gone by the time he entered grade school. His parents were far from rich, but there never was a time that there wasn't an abundance of food in the house. Cory adored both of his parents, and even at a very early age, he instinctively knew that the time they spent together would be precious. It was through his dad that he developed his love of food and portion size. It was hard not to enjoy a meal with his dad sitting at the table. His enthusiasm for food was contagious. Part of that reason was due to his mom's incredible cooking and baking. Her southern roots provided all kinds of wonderful and fattening specialties. Some of Cory's best childhood memories were watching his mom cook and bake when he was very little, and then helping her as he got older. It was their time together and both enjoyed it immensely. There were many meals that Cory ate alone when his parents were working, and food was often a big comfort.

With few friends, young Cory had devised an imaginary one whom he would speak with, consoling him on the occasions that he found himself upset by the cruelty of the kids at school, or when he felt most lonely. It's not as if he made his parents set a place for his friend at the table or anything like that; his parents just figured it was a phase he was going through and left it at that.

Fate was unkind to Cory a few months prior to his high school graduation: his father suddenly passed away from a heart attack. It was a hard blow to his mom, and life changing for him. Since he never was an outstanding student, Cory did not qualify for any kind of college scholarship and with finances now a bit questionable, college was just not doable. His mom was able to get Cory a job as a clerk in a local bank. In such a small town as they lived, there weren't that many jobs, but his mom was well liked by everyone and the bank President was very aware of the family's situation and happy to help her out.