Celebrating Through Living

Just over 2 years ago, I nearly died.
Some of you may remember my all-out, crazed assault against the COVID-19 pneumonia that left me hospitalized for 53 days.
Things were dire, the medical records are quoted as saying, “high probability of expiration overnight”.
I’d already been through so much in my life. At 23 I lost my fiancé in a car accident. From that day forward—both my personal and professional life have been an absolute roller coaster.
Somehow, my incredible wife Shelly, stayed by my side with our 2 sons, Dylan and Taylor.
But I was full of anger and rage, so my big grocery career imploded. I worked at reinventing myself but then the economy crashed and financial ruin ensued.
Eleven years ago, a freak accident happened within our home in remote Idaho which nearly killed Shelly.
She had to relearn to walk and talk. I became her caregiver.
I learned a lot from Shelly, as I watched her patiently work so hard. Never feeling sorry for herself.
We moved back to Phoenix and writing became therapeutic.
For the next 5 years, I worked on a book.
Around 5:30 AM each day, I’d begin to write.
Then around 8:30, I’d take my author hat off to jump into my role as a busy loan officer.
I had finally finished and was so excited to be in the latter part of the editing process.
Then I got sick.
Now I have lasting ramifications from this disease that nearly killed me.
Acute respiratory failure has created a chronic cough and breathing struggles.
Intense fatigue makes it necessary for a daily nap.
Hypoxia—has given me cognitive issues, as my brain just doesn’t work as well as it did.
I’ve had to give up being a loan officer.
But I am alive, and wow, I appreciate every moment of that.
I’m trying to do the things that I want to do, as we never know what’s next.
For example —as a 40-year fanatic of the band U2, my birthday gift last week from Shelly was a big splurge—a floor ticket to see U2 at the new Sphere in Vegas.
With an inhaler and plenty of cough drops in my pocket, I worked my way to the side of the stage, right next to the band. I sang and swayed to the music—celebrating life.
A beautiful day, indeed!

Now, the biggest piece of advice I can give is to pause, appreciate, be kind, and do not hesitate to do those things that make you happy—as tomorrow is not promised.
I’m proud that my book was finally released last spring. A book that not only chronicles my personal and professional struggles with loss and trauma, but lessons learned from my experiences, as well as action items the reader can implement into their own life.
Shake Yourself Free. A title that seems to fit perfectly. I have finally shaken myself from the pain, anger, and rage that engulfed me–which kept me from truly being the human being I had the potential to be.
I did it. I am finally free.
And it’s surreal to have Shake Yourself Free out there doing what I dreamed of it doing—resonating with and helping people.
Message me if you’d like me to sign and send you a copy, or pick it up on Amazon here..

Shake Yourself Free: Take Control of Your Life to Move Through the Pain https://a.co/d/hbn3g5Y