Mr. Brown's craving for discipline and order was born of a chaotic childhood. His parents were divorced when he was 1, and each one was married four times. He lived for a time with his grandparents and dealt with an ever-changing cast of stepparents.
"Some of these marriages were not that pretty," said John Encarnaceo, a retired colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard and former boyfriend of Mr. Brown's mother, Judith Brown.
"I grew up fast," Mr. Brown recalled. "I remember waking up in the middle of the night, and hearing the banging and the screams and having to be the 5- or 6-year-old boy having to save Mom."
All of which increased Mr. Brown's chances of becoming a burden on society, but fortunately for him it didn't turn out that way (although certain political observers may feel otherwise right now).
One thing I'll go on and on about is that dysfunctional parents have serious and long-lasting effects on their kids. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don't. But t's common. It's so common that I hypothesize that it's actually normal. Interestingly, many dysfunctional people are dysfunctional in ways that help them become "successful": driven, ambitious, "workaholics," people-pleasers, etc. Now, being a driven, ambitious people-pleaser is not necessarily a sign of dysfunction, and, even if it is, it might not matter than much to anyone. But it's really common to be a miserable person who makes others miserable, even in secret. I'm not saying this is the case of Mr. Brown, but there is certainly a very real risk of it - just like many (or most) of us.
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