On May 14th 1994, my life was forever altered.
Life altering events happen every day, but we are typically unaware of them. It seems they always happen to others as we read about them in the paper or watch them on the news.
Individually, we spend most of life engaging in the grind of it. We get out of bed. We go to work. We go to school. We raise children. We cook. We clean. We sit down to dinner. We entertain ourselves with mindless television to escape the ever-present drudgery that life all too often connotes for us. And then, once in a great while, it confronts us with the reality of something that leaves an indelible mark on our souls.
Some life-altering events are universal. Continue reading
I, myself have a number of vices. Some suggest they are harmless, near typical activities for an adult male my age. Others find them repugnant and offer a scolding rebuke behind my back. I drink too much. I carry a pistol. I frequently discuss so-called unpatriotic ideals such as Texas secession from the union. Admittedly, such things can hardly be compared to other less socially acceptable activities such as using heroin—but they certainly can promote antisocial and unlawful behavior when they are not properly controlled by the practitioner. 
My wife, who is my greatest critic (other than me), frequently complains that I do not come to the point quickly enough—kind of like I’m doing right now. While I believe I am a master of the parenthetical, wielding it as a Samurai wields a sword, my wife believes that I waste her time with unnecessary verbal clutter. To you, dear one, I say, a) be patient and b) what follows is more of an obligatory nod to those we honor tomorrow than a paragraph flanked by parentheses. 
