Family in focus

This week, KTAR is taking a close look at the family, and I thought it was such a good idea that I decided to do the same. That is, take a close look at my family.

Not my wife and kids, but the family that I grew up in. I’m not highlighting the McMahons as role models for anyone, I just think it’s important to know that things can work out pretty well even when nothing looks like the ideal family structure.

First, both of my parents worked. They worked together, mostly at night, as entertainers. I never lived in a house as a child. For the first few years we stayed, as actors often did, in hotels and then traveling.

My childhood home was a trailer. That was before they were called mobile homes. But if my parents and I were perpetually on the road, back and forth across the country, how could I get an education?

I was homeschooled by my mom, who had never taught anything but dancing. So with no roots, no neighborhood, absolutely nothing close to a traditional family, why didn’t I wind up in jail?

Because I was loved unconditionally in a social unit of three that I will always proudly call my family.

I’m Pat McMahon.