Auld Lang Syne
New Years Eve is a time of reflection on the past and contemplation of the future.The Scottish poem Auld Lang Syne is a fitting partner as we reflect on the passing year. So I share my reflections of 2011 and contemplations of 2012.
Read MoreGratitude and Giving Thanks…
This morning I am filled with indescribable feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving. This is a landmark like none other. As we approach the end of November our thoughts are turned to the holidays and hopefully to others. To gratitude and giving thanks, at times this is hard amid the noise of the commercial holiday hype. But today that hype is faraway, psychologically and literally.
Read MoreCelebrating 48 Years, the Birthday that Almost Didn’t Come
It was 27 months ago, 9 June 2009, that I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, 25 months ago the cause of the cirrhosis was diagnosed as Alpha1-Antitrypsin deficiency. At that time the doctor told me I had about two years to live without a liver transplant. This thought would haunt me for the next 22 months. Three months ago my condition had suddenly become very grim and the possibility that I would not see today had become suddenly real.
Read MoreLooking Forward, a New Year
As we begin a new year one can’t help but look back at what has passed and ponder what lies ahead. The end of the last year was particularly hard, I spent more time in the hospital between Thanksgiving and New Years than I have in any other similar length of time. A total of three hospitalizations, two coma’s and a Christmas I can’t remember. It would seem that the new year could only be an improvement. As I do look forward and contemplate the new year I am struck by several stark realities. My health will only continue to decline until I receive a transplant. My gallbladder has already failed and I live with pain from that and my liver on a daily basis. My MELD score seems hopelessly stuck in the low twenty’s...
Read MoreGiving Thanks
As yet another Thanksgiving comes around I greet it with a vastly different perspective. Yes, I am grateful for my home, my prosperity and the bounty that the Lord has provided me not just today but throughout the past year. But this year there is a different perspective, the festivities matter less and my family more. The feast is secondary to blessing and strength that I have been provided by the prayers and associations of family and friends. I have come to realize how truly blessed I am. Let me share those things which top my list for giving thanks this year: The Atonement of Our Savior – through my faith I know that someday I will leave this mortal life and return to presence of my Heavenly Father. A gift made possible by the suffering and...
Read MoreAnother year older
The importance of birthdays has always been a bit of an enigma. They are a public recognition of various stages of life. These milestones start in childhood and extend throughout our life. Each caries with it an expectation of new behavior or new roles. Yet we all know from experience that people mature at different rates and take different paths through life. This fact seems to undermine this whole concept of birthdays as the markers for life’s milestones. Birthdays also serve as validation of our identity. We have been taught to evaluate ourselves and our progression through life by our age. “At this age I will be in college” or “at this age I will be ready for retirement.” One thing that birthdays...
Read MoreYou Can Give Life
One Man’s Story Trailer
The last 6 months of a two year journey to receive a liver transplant. Told in one minute of pictures and music.
Recent Comments