Resilience, Habits 1-2

Enlisting in the Navy was a wild ride. As an upcoming senior in high school I answered the call to go “Full Speed Ahead.” What can is say? That cheesy commercial got me. I was eager to get on with the next stage of my life so I entered the delayed entry program and waited…

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Resilience

Back in my youth, I used to love riding a skateboard. I was first introduced to skateboarding in 1986 (yep, that dates me). My brother and I spent the summer in Virginia Beach, VA. My stepfather was in the Navy and stationed nearby. I found the wonder of skateboarding in our apartment complex. I learned…

Sacrificing Virtue for Success

Johnny As a teenager, we cruised! We got in our cars and trucks and drove around our little sleepy town every Friday and Saturday night. Surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans, there wasn’t much to do, so we crept through the strip playing our music loud while chasing our teenage dreams. I had a…

Fully Known, Part 4

Boyhood Wandering My family has a long line of men who have served in the military. It wasn't expected of us; it just happened that way. My childhood in Illinois was spent wandering the urban jungle while holding my M-16 (stick) and camouflaging myself from neighbors and pesky enemies (oncoming cars) with a keen set of…

Samuel, Churchill & Me

I was Samuel. I am Winston.  My story is as common as a pine tree in the countryside of Georgia. The doesn’t know how to grow up into a man so he makes a mess of his life in a reckless pursuit of his heart, his masculinity and his identity. I have left a lot…

Fully Known, Part 3

Samuel There was a young boy by the name of Samuel. Samuel was smart, athletic, and he had a mysterious curiosity. From the outside, Samuel looked like every other boy, but this wasn’t the real Samuel. Samuel’s mom and dad had divorced when he was eight, and now his mom is married to a man…