11 Things We Learned From Legends With JBL With Booker T (Part 1)
10. Growing Up And Losing His Parents
JBL tells Booker that he wasn't aware of his past until he read Booker's autobiography and that, to him, it is the most impressive thing about his story. He calls Booker sitting there with him today a 'one in a hundred million' chance, so severe and harsh was his upbringing.
Booker's father died when he was ten months old, so he never got to know him, although he was a great father according to everything he's heard. He still has a picture of his Dad (which they show). He calls his Dad a strong man and says he always wanted to live up to the man in the picture, even if he never did 'miss him' per se.
His mother taught him manners and tried to set him on the straight and narrow whenever he would stray from the path. The family moved to Houston when Booker (the youngest of eight children) was eight-years-old. When Booker was thirteen his mother passed away suddenly. He was playing outside with friends when she fell (trying to retrieve a ceiling fan from the attic) and was rushed to hospital.
While there, she experienced complications due to the anesthesia and died. It was a life-changing experience for Booker and things went downhill from there, with the family disintegrating and Booker and his sister, who stayed at the family home, going through hard times financially.