Oh yeah, that's why!

Okay Kids! Put on your hip waiters and grab a shovel because it's about to get deep in here! You have been forewarned.

Many of our friends and family have wondered in roundabout and in not so roundabout ways what our plan for the future is. Some have even wondered, why hasn't Dave gotten a job? Why is the focus so much on this book?

We have had trouble answering these questions. Sometimes, Dave and I have wondered ourselves what the final outcome would be. This book started out in a simple manner for my husband 11 years ago. His dream has been to share it with others and to encourage and inspire those touched by cancer. Hey, if he could actually survive what he went through, anyone can. Dave and I started planning to actually get this book published almost from the first time we met. I was one of the ones he inspired. It was one thing that drew us together. As two people who have survived so much physically and emotionally, it went unsaid what the reasons were. But how do we tell others? How can we help those closest to us understand. Why are we doing this?

An answer with some degree of clarity came to me yesterday. The Thunderbirds performed an Airshow over Waikiki yesterday. Dave and I were almost exactly in the center, right where they called out what was being done. As an aside to my incredibly deep thought, I have to give a shout out to the women on the team. 2 out of the 6 were women. This was an amazing performance by the Thunderbirds and if you have never seen it, you are missing out. They did stunts and tricks that gave me near heart failure. During this 1/2 hour performance, I started to wonder...who would ever want to do this? You have to risk not only your life but everything you know to get in that plane and do the amazing tricks that they do. That display was the most convincing argument I have for knowing this: these people must believe that this, and only this is what they were born to do.

If you have ever met Dave, you know this is what he was born to do. He was born to impact others, encourage them, help them survive as he did and improve their overall quality of life. Not just anyone can survive the trials he did during his two time cancer treatments which total almost 2 years of his life. I truly feel he was put on this earth to improve the lives of others. Oh yeah, that's why.

I have also been glad to be the one to go to work during the last six months. Giving my husband the gift of time to develop what he knows is his true purpose is a gift to me probably more than it is to him. Oh yeah, that's why.

Others may think it's crazy and they may not understand, but Dave and I both feel this little book of poems is just the beginning of our journey. Our happiest times are when we get to share our story with others and see on their face that they are encouraged that someone else has actually passed the test and come out a better human being on the other side. Oh yeah, that's why.

And when Dave is a world renowned speaker and author touring the country and improving the lives of not just the hundreds that he has now but the millions that he will one day, I know you will say, Oh yeah, that's why!