I'm Back

Hi all,
I am back.  I am excited to be writing again.  I will try to post twice a week.  I have been thinking about life quite a bit lately.  My beautiful wife recently passed her one year mark of being cancer free.  The whole experience was very surreal.  I never imagined I would hear the words you have cancer.  I know that is a very naive thought to have, nevertheless it was a surprise to me that she was sick.

I have not written my feelings until now.  I think the first feeling I had was surprise.  I know I felt some fear, especially when the Surgeon wanted to do her biopsy the same day as the consultation.  I remember I met her at the doctors office, and had to drive home alone after the biopsy was taken.  I know I had some fear at that point, but it was very quickly replaced with peace.

I do not remember if I have posted this before, but I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We are more commonly known as Mormons, but that is a nickname.  The name comes from a book of scripture, The Book of Mormon.  I will talk about the Book of Mormon at a later date.  As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I believe that the family is the unit of eternity.  I know that God is my Heavenly Father, and that I am his son.  I know that through the Priesthood restored to the earth I will be with my wife for all eternity.  I also know that I will be with my children for all eternity as well.  That knowledge alone brought such peace to me it was incredible.  I knew that irregardless of what the outcome would be, I would be with her again.

Getting older

It is a sad day when a person finally comes to the conclusion that they aren't as young as they used to be.  I don't feel old by any stretch of the imagination but as I have taken on the extremes of the workout Insanity Asylum, I have been feeling it in ways I wouldn't have 10 years ago.  I know this happens to the best of us but it is a little bit of a hard pill to swallow.  I am the kind of guy who when it is time to get back in shape I go all out, I push myself hard, I over do it really.  I am starting to realize I can't just jump in with both feet anymore. 
A few years ago I got myself into a bit of trouble.  I went for a bike ride after several months of near inactivity.  I rode hard and really pushed myself.  I arrived at the top of a hill and felt very sick.  I think I was on the verge of having a serious health event.  But fortunately I was smart enough to turn around and coast down the hill, and back to my house to recover.
I am fine I even had an EKG to make sure my heart was ok, but I know that I came very close to having a very serious event.  So what is the moral of the story?  Take it easy and work up to the extremes of exercise especially if you are middle aged and you have been inactive for a while. 
I have no doubt in my mind that I can work up to the level of fitness required to do Insanity Asylum, but I need to make sure I do it in a safe and smart manner.

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I made the front page!!

As you may know I have written and published a children's book.  The book is titled My Dog The Lawyer.  I got a call from our local news paper on Sunday, asking if they could come by and interview me in the next couple of hours.  I agreed and a photographer showed up a couple hours later followed by the reporter.  It was a nice interview but I figured that I would be buried on some obscure page of the paper.  I was in Denver the next day and was surprised to see a text from my mom with my ugly mug on the front page of the local paper.  It was a very unexpected but very pleasant surprise.  So here is the picture, enjoy.

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Coping with the death of a loved one

I am not sure what it is lately but I have had people all around me dying.  It is a very odd feeling.  I haven't lost a parent or anyone really close to me thanks goodness.  But I have had several friends lose someone close to them and had two extended family deaths on both my side and my wife's side of the family.  I almost feel like I am the center of a bulls eye and the darts keep getting a little closer.  All this death has caused me to reflect on how people deal and or cope with the death of loved ones.

I know coping is very different for everyone so I am going to tell you how I do it, and how I hope I will be able to cope when it comes time for me to lose someone close to me such as a parent.  I believe that we are children of God, I know this actually.  Because we are children of God I believe that the whole point to this life is for us to see what we are made of, in other words how do we deal with hardship and grief and pain and morality.  I also believe that God loves us far more than we could ever possible comprehend in this life, and that he knows each of us very well, better than we know ourselves.  That being said here is how I look at it when I am faced with a death.  I look at it like they have finished the marathon, they have crossed the finish line and the reward is to live in peace and comfort and never ending happiness.  I really think that with this perspective it is much easier to cope with the loss of a loved one.  Even with children, they came to earth they lived as long as they needed to and they are done.  But most important of all I know we can all be reunited when we die.  I know we will see them again and that we will never have to be separated again.

I know that I packed a lot of different thoughts into a small paragraph, if you should have any questions on what I believe please leave me a comment and I will be happy to either explain more or point you towards the information.

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