1) 22 month-old Zoey Kate is beyond amazing. She is a constant joy that I cannot adequately describe. Why don't they tell us that grandparenthood is so great??? I would have started having kids way earlier.
2) Diane and I have been together for 33 years now. While life can be a struggle, we struggle together. She is wonderful and is absolutely the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm as lucky as anyone can get in this department.
3) Jason (25), Susan (23), Lauren (20) all happy, healthy, heads screwed on straight. I'll attribute this more to Diane and to dumb luck than to my parenting skills... but it has been wonderful to watch them all grow into competent adults.
4) My parents are still active and vital and are able to participate in all of our lives. I know how lucky we are to have not only an extended family, but one that is so loving, honorable, generous, etc... I did good in the parents department too (again, my great dumb luck.) If I am as good a parent to my children as they have been to me, then I've done well.
5) It's been 11 years since my accident, 10 years since I've been skydiving, 9 years since my 1st surgery, 6 years since coming back to life! What's awesome in my life is that it's been > 6 years since I've taken opiates for pain beyond a random vicodin, and never for my lumbar spine. After 2 failed spine surgeries and years of chronic pain and constant opiates for pain, I never thought I'd know what a normal life looks like. While I'm not perfect, I'm a thousand times better than I ever thought I'd be!
6) GPN is now > 5 years old. I've had employees for > 4 years and have been in commercial office space for 2.5 years. I cannot express how greuling it is to work with chronic pain patients for 60 hours/week. What's awesome is how rewarding it is to do the work that I do. I am truly blessed to be able to do this for a "living".
Great post Justin!
All the best,
Mark
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