Neil's childhood was marked by the kind of poverty that leaves permanent impressions on a person's soul. Growing up in a small Texas town where opportunities were as scarce as rain in August, he learned early that life would require him to fight for every small victory. His family lived in a cramped apartment where the walls were thin enough to hear every argument from the neighbors, and the refrigerator hummed with the strain of keeping their meager groceries cold. His mother worked double shifts at the local diner, her hands perpetually smelling of grease and coffee, while his father drifted between odd jobs and long stretches of unemployment that cast a shadow of uncertainty over their household.