Finding Joy in Difficult Times

Finding Joy in Difficult Times.

Your would be surprised what one of the most joyful events in my life has been.

[EricDucommun]

Sorrow lasts through the night, but joy comes in the morning! Good word brother!

[Assembler]

Wow, I'm so glad you survived your cancer diagnosis and you found out the people that really cared about you.

I enjoy hearing things from people that people don't usually share. It gives you some clue as to what motivated them. I'm fascinated by the human experience and the numerous ways that human beings respond to their experiences.

I've had three difficult times in my life (that stand out, we all have difficult things from time to time, but once in a while, we get a doozy!)

1. When I was 6, I got caught between my mom and dad during a fight they were having and my dad had my mom backed up against the kitchen counter punching her. I was between them trying to push him away from her. She reached down and slid open the silverware drawer and pull out a butcher's knife and stabbed him. That was the end of the wife-beating dad!

2. My two children were born 10 weeks early, it was horrible, but more horrible was the 45 days spent in intensive care having to watch other families lose their children, sometimes without warning and very suddenly right before our eyes. I've seen many tears roll down the plexiglass of incubators (isolettes in modern terminology).

3. Last year a DNA test turned up that my mother had lied to me for 50 years about who my father was. I had NO idea AT all. Until 23andme turned up my brother as only a half brother. Fortunately, I was able to dig into the data and find my bio father's identity as well as a new half-brother and half-sister to go with my other 4 half-siblings.

Through it all, it was a very fascinating journey, I learned a lot about human beings and I learned to cope with extreme stress. We all experience pretty far out things in our lives, it's a fascinating journey indeed! If I were to die today, I've got zero complaints and I'm very satisfied with what life doled out to me along the journey.