Well, it's been a while...

Honestly, I sort of forgot about this blog. It's pretty though, isn't it?

Looks like my last post here was in 2013 ... 9 years ago! Daaaaaaaaaaang. A lot of water under the proverbial bridge.

Overall, things are a lot better in my personal life than they were back then. My wife and I went through some rough times. Relationships can be like that ... but now I can say that this one is built to last. That was rough. I'm happy that we worked through it and have a stronger, more loving relationship now.

There have been some sad and deeply painful events. My father passed away in October of 2018 after fighting cancer for a few years. That was a very difficult journey and I miss him every day. It was transformative and so very difficult to be there holding his hand as he passed. 

In March of 2020, my father in law passed away after many years fighting many cancers and COPD. He left us on a good note. I think he was ready and he seemed his chipper self pretty much up to the end. I miss him, too. He was good to me and we were friends. 

In February of this year, one of my best and dearest friends, whom I've known since 9th grade, died suddenly from a heart attack. He had been under treatment for his heart ailment for a few years and had mentioned to me on one occasion that it would eventually be what ended him. He was right - but it was no less a shock the day it happened. He was like a brother and it hurt me to the core to lose him on this plane. But now, instead of knowing that he's out there somewhere in the world, I know that he is everywhere. It's just a bummer to not be able to call him, email or message him and to know that I won't again randomly run into him on some highway while driving across country. (That was something!)

Since then, I've had my own health "issues." Fortunately, I've been able to continue working daily and have kept it both out of the socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and have kept it unknown to my employer.

In late 2020, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Frighteningly, it was not Stage 1 but on the bright side, my oncologist assured me that every case is different and, in mine, it appears that we should consider it as a "chronic illness" ... meaning that I'm treatable and not going away any time soon. It's been 2 years, I've had a resection of the tumor in my colon and that's gone very, very well. I've got a bit of metastasis but we've been knocking it out very effectively. Also good ... I've had very few side affects from chemotherapy (although I did lose most of my hair ... it's starting to grow back under the latest therapy but I was going thin on top anyhow) and have continued my daily life with very few limitations. I honestly feel good ... like "normal" good as if I don't have this disease. 

Perhaps not too surprisingly, in facing my own mortality, I've cut through a TON of bullsh*t in my life identifying what really matters and rediscovering my relationship with God. All in all, this is wonderful. It's a fairly extreme way to come to this place but I am thankful for everything -- my blessings but even more so to the challenges that have opened my eyes to those blessings. As has been said -- there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. 

I'm very thankful to still be here to be thankful for things (and intend to be here for a good, long time).

The work ... well, I've had a couple more jobs since then. J Walter turned into Mirum. I left Mirum and went to Javelin. Javelin merged with KERN and, unfortunately, my position became redundant. Yet thanks to my Javelin boss, Rob, I slid right into a contract position with RAPP where I'm still pounding it out daily. I'm working hard to get transitioned from contract status to full-time regular status. It's a challenge (oh, agency logic) but my work appears to be appreciated and they don't appear to want me to leave. So, that's something to work with, I suppose.

I enjoy what I'm doing for RAPP. I'm the Resource Manager for the Central and West regions. It's a departure from my typical role and I've been able to sort of craft the discipline from the ground up. It's also quite a bit less stressful than the positions I've held for the past several years and that's very good for my health.

So there's the 9-year update folks, more or less. Life is a whiz-bang whirlwind of ups and downs. But as long as you keep your sense of humor and look for the stuff that matters and things to be thankful for, it's all good. It's the experience of the ages. It's what life is about. I'm happy. Be happy.

Until next post ...