Haynes

Hometown: Bronx, NY
Positive Since: 1995
Relationship Status: Single
Age: 54

I was born in 1958 in Brooklyn Jewish Hospital at 5:35 am. Early on I hated being called Mike, so I now go by Haynes. I am the older of two children. My sister, April Louise, is 5 years younger. My dad Norman, who made his transition 8-3-1998, was a New York City cop who walked the beat on 125th Street in Harlem, the block of the famous Apollo Theater. I went to the Apollo every Sunday during Junior High School with my best friend Donald. I saw acts like The Supremes, The Temptations, and James Brown. My all time favorite was Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles--even though getting James Brown's bowtie handed to me backstage was pretty special.

My mom Jeannette, was and still is the guiding light in our family. She always made me feel special growing up. She told my sister and me that we would always have each other to rely on no matter what. She also spoiled us, making two different hot cereals two different ways each winter morning before school: Wheatina, hard for me and Farina soft for my sister. Recently a very good college friend of mine, while describing my mom's special light, told of the time we celebrated New Year's Eve at 12 noon on New Year's Day. I had been stuck in Chicago in a snow storm. When I called my mom in tears because I would not be home in time to celebrate the New Year with my family and friends, she said in her calm soothing voice, "that's ok, honey, we will just move the New Year until you can get home". She promptly called to inform over 20 friends and family members that New Year's would be celebrated at 12PM not 12AM on January 1st that year.

This fond memory has stuck with that friend for over 30 years. And why wouldn't it. We partied at 12PM with horns, pots, pans, and champagne like the New Year had just been brought in. I believe this is why I live my life in such a way that now by the saying: "If you don't ask, they can't say yes!" I know that there are only two answers, yes and no, so odds are that 50% of the time you will hear yes if you just ask. And if you hear no, just ask the next person! SMILE. But back to my life.

I attended Bronx High School of Science and Northwestern University to become a math teacher, but that all changed when one of my best friends in college said "You know Haynes, you are so loud, they pay people to yell and scream downtown." Even though I was from NYC, the home of the famous stock exchanges, I had no idea he was talking about brokers on a trading floor. I never traded but I did wind up managing Shearson Lehman Hutton's back office, and was written up in the Wall Street Week after Black Monday (the infamous fall of the Stock Market in 1987) for saving Shearson money.