Nathans Homework

Biography of my father Jason Guinn

Jason was born in 1962 in a small town in central Florida called Leesburg. Born to a 20-year-old mother and 22-year-old father, times were rough, and after his mother and father split at a young age, times got tougher. He grew up spending most of his time outside, competing and playing with the kids in the neighborhood. At age 10, Jason fell in love with motorcycles and, even with little funding, used the neighbor’s bike to race in local motocross races. The wins piled up, and with them came prize money; he was dominating, not just in motocross but also in baseball. By age 12, he was completely dedicated to both and ahead of anybody in the local community. This community would change, however, as his mother fell in love with an Army recruiter and married him. With an Army father comes moving. Father spent his middle school and high school life moving from one state to another, from Texas to New York and back to Florida in Orlando. Even with all the moving, my father continued to dominate in motocross and baseball, and by 17 had dedicated all his time to motocross. By the end of his senior year, he was ready to be pro, and that he did, leaving his family behind and traveling across the country with Kawasaki’s race team. As the 70s ended and the 80s began, my father was at the top of his game, but he saw the decline coming. With multiple injuries and his times starting to slow, he had to decide: either quit what he loved completely or find a new role. By 1984, he was a lead mechanic on the team and also helped drive the team’s equipment across the country between races. In this same year, sadly, the person who stepped in as a father figure and got my dad through hard times had passed away from a heart attack at age 49.

Through the 80s and early 90s, Jason continued on his path, was promoted to head mechanic of the team, and moved to the jet ski race team, helping secure multiple world championships. In 1994, he was sent south from Virginia back to Florida to a town called Vero Beach to start a shop and run a new testing center for Kawasaki race boats. Years went by with an everyday routine until 1997, when he met my future mother; after just a year of dating, they got married and had their firstborn child, my older sister. Six years later, Jason’s first son came along, and he decided to retire to spend time with his kids. He bought a small farm outside the city limits, and for the past 22 years he has supported us and been the best father he could be, even after an early divorce from my mother. At 65, with so many accomplishments and successes, if you asked Jason what his greatest accomplishment was, he would say his son and daughter.