My First Blog Post...

12.15.20 Tuesday morning:

Good morning!

Well, now that I've finally got the inspiration to jot down some of my thoughts about my friends and Army of Brothers, like Chris, Bob, and countless others, who are working diligently in the hopes of finding me a kidney transplant donor, I am hoping, in turn, to help you to get to know about me and my journey up until and through today.

The first thing you should know is that I believe in God.

... the best "product" on the market -- with some of the worst salespeople who often mean well.

And though some prayers happen with built-in delays, they "happen to happen" is His time, not ours.

Many of the things I will be sharing with you are not only non-linear, but have occurred over His time in my walk. And I'm not saying that everything goes perfectly. Good God, I've not only made a million mistakes, and some were not pretty -- I have blunders every day like all of us -- yet, every once in a while things click. And we're "in the Zone" like some athletes who find themselves -- in a relaxed feeling of freedom from stress -- in a mode of playing to their maximum potential. In the middle of what feels like perfection -- like the baseball pitcher who is throwing a no-hitter or even a perfect game. And his teammates leave him alone in the dugout between innings so as to not intrude upon "The Zone." Or like the golfer for whom everything is going just right. The putts are falling, and shots feel solid every time. I haven't had many rounds like that, but it's happened for me just a few times. And man, does it feel good!

Most of my days are made up of hopefully at least several mini-successes while in the daily grind of day-to-day living. Only some days and moments are extra special. But boy, do they feel good!

Similar to The Zone, I have days at this point in my life, at 59, when I look into the soul of my friends. Micro-perspective blooms into macro-perspective. You've got what you need and learning about these special people is gravy. "We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore..." as the president says in the movie Independence Day. "...We shall be united in our common interests." I had a few great conversations with some dear "old" friends this morning! We discussed our common interests -- like launching this effort to find some special someone who would consider to help me off my -- soon-to-be on December 30th -- daily dialysis mode.



My close friend Mike took a flight out of Houston to Florida a couple of weeks ago just two days before my operation which installed a catheter next to my navel for daily peritoneal dialysis just to show me "a friendly face and get some inspiration." We went out for only a dinner, watched Monday Night Football, and Mike took a flight home the next day. Do I have special friends or what?! What I want to tell you is, as Mike -- who is a fraternity brother and fellow owner of a 41-year fantasy football league team (generated by the weekly NFL scoring numbers for individual players) called the GFL -- made the comment that tough times can be overcome faster when one "plugs in" to old friends. My GFL brothers often have an annual end-of-August national reunion. They even came to my hometown when I was in New Hampshire for the 2018 reunion. Our league owner brothers are now inviting each year other non-league owner fraternity brothers and it's the best thing our inner circle has ever done! We are now connecting with many brothers we haven't heard from in 37 years. Mike's point is: We remember the best in ourselves when we reunite with old friends if the situation is right and can be serious combined with good old-fashioned humor and perspective.

Thanks for reading,

Ron