My biggest inspirations

In late 2013 and all of 2014 I felt like willing my heart to stop beating. My marriage had failed and for the first time in my life, I was facing the truth of all aspects of who I had been and why. The painful personal work of peeling back layer after layer was unyielding and felt unbearable. In the first year of my separation it was my children that kept me alive. In those early stages of grief and awakening, I needed someone more than myself to live for. They gave me that reason no matter how dark my world felt. They loved me through and brought precious moments of normalcy and warmth to what was a terrifyingly cold and empty new reality. With them, I got to be Dad despite all my wreckage strewn about me. They didn't see me as the broken man I had become. They saw me as their father who they loved no matter what, and that saved me. It truly did.

Like every parent that holds their child for the first time, my love for them has always been total. What is amazing to me is how it just gets deeper as we go. Aja and Talon have become my biggest inspiration to make the most of the rest of my life.

The legacy I hope my example will inscribe on their hearts is to find their purpose and burn passionately with it. To be fiercely vulnerable and willing to make mistakes. To have the courage to become who they truly are in every aspect of their lives. To trust their inner voice and always choose love over fear.

It is my deepest hope that I will inspire them in these ways, just as their steadfast love and support has inspired me on my journey. I can't thank them enough for loving me through the dark years that seem so long ago, but really weren't.

Aja, Talon, you are my heart guys. I love you always and forever. That's one thing in all your lives that you can count on never changing.

Love,

Dad