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I wrote this several years ago.
I look at the kid in the photograph and think about of all the things that he will go through over the next two decades. In the next few years, he’ll be severely injured at work with fractures to both femurs, along with fractures to the ulna, radius and humerus of his left arm and metacarpals in his right hand. He’ll live with chronic pain that will often cause restless nights and decisions made to forgo activities due to the discomfort and tenderness of his condition. One might say that he won’t be prepared for this to happen to him, but the truth is that he is as ready as anyone can be.
We don’t get to choose what happens in our life, but we do get to choose how we react to it. One need not feel guilty for feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of collapse when facing such hardships. The consuming darkness of depression is something which I am intimately familiar. I turned to humor to get me through the gloominess. However, jokes only go so far. The thing that kept me going is that I pictured myself one day looking back at all that I had been through knowing that I had persevered.
Back then, I could never contemplate being a husband and a father, but these aspects of my life are my greatest joys. Despite whatever pain and despair I’ve ever felt in my life, I am appreciative of all the people and lessons that have made me the person writing this to you today. From my wife to my son, my parents and the rest of my family and friends, I am the lucky one to have you in my life.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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