About the Author

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania the youngest of four siblings. We lived in a small, turn of the century home built by the old coal company in that region. My parents had a small income but they always seemed to make our lives appear that we did well. They taught me many good values and displayed much love. I was rather an adventurous young child with an over-zealous imagination. I also had that aggressive playful personality growing up around two older brothers. My inquisitive desire to explore, be creative and imaginative combined with my raucous behavior was a handful for my mother. To this day these three personality traits are still dominating in my life. I have just learned better ways to channel them finding passions in sports, travel and things like drawing and poetry. 11 years of my young life was consumed with wrestling with many achievements before resigning the sport after one year in college. It has taught me much self-discipline and determination with an emphasis on individual responsibility. Football and track were other after school activities occupying my time. My summers were spent in outdoor recreation and working on a farm. Though my childhood was busy I found many opportunities to draw, build or write short stories. I wrote a few poems and managed to save two of them over the course of life "Petal to Memory, Tear to Dewdrop" and "When Will the Sun Shine Again". I rarely shared my poetry with others. However, it was well known by my classmates that I had a creative side with the many cartoons and funny writings that interrupted many classes in school. I was voted most artistic of my class.

I believe I had a blessed childhood but somewhere in the doorway to adulthood began throwing those blessings away. I was not directly rebellious against authority but had a lust for adventure and risk lacking the inhibitions for danger. I began drinking in the summer months at age 15 but after graduating began abusing it several times a week. Abuse of alcohol distorted my thinking and the values I was taught were cast aside. The chapter on "The Dark Ages" reveals how my mischief antics led to a darker way of life and the toll it has on the human spirit. Throughout this book there are inferences to the thoughts and feelings that surrounded my darker days and the struggle to find my way back to living life again. As much as I am ashamed of my past I have found strength in the wisdom learned from a world of foolishness. I often wonder how I survived and can only attribute it to a hand beyond this earthly domain.

My latter teen years of drinking and acting without boundaries were shared with two friends. We spent many summer nights drinking and finding trouble to entangle with. My aunt's car provided for much of our excitement by sneaking it from the garage each night to joyride across the countryside with a case of beer taken from the local fire hall. We often managed to shimmy the lock, take some beer and place some money in the collection to not draw attention to it missing. The rest of the night was spent blowing up M-eighties, 4-wheeling, racing, torching newspaper boxes, swimming in the river, and harassing clerks at the convenience stores. When I finally went off to college my delinquency was at full throttle. I went through 4 roommates my freshman year almost getting expelled when one of my friends torched someone's door and for the many suspected acts of vandalizing I committed from punching out windows to putting my head through wooden doors. I also had the tendency not to back down from any signs of aggression from others, which led to a few fights one of which I went through a wall. But the one fight that has taught me the biggest lesson is written in "Blood Stained Wall". It was with one of the four roommates I had my freshman year. He had the kind of dark side one finds written in the front headlines. He spent much of his time venting about whom he hated and drawing cartoons of mutilating them. He further had a fascination with weapons and kept a trunk of such in the room. As much as a tried to reach his anti-social side it backfired. One night after my joking he became outraged and slammed my head against a cement wall. I countered with a wrestling move and then punched him several times in the face before several other students barricaded me in one of the rooms. My roommate painted my wall with his blood. My attempts to talk to him were pointless in that he just stared into space with looks of murder. He quit school thereafter. Several years later he was in the headlines for shooting four people killing three then taking his own life. The instigator to this violence was the results of being laughed at.

In every flirtation with corruption we become more susceptible to acting upon other temptations leading to more destructive transgressions. My own walk into the darker regions of this world at a young age led to a total disregard for my own life coupled with suicidal tendencies and alienation from my friends. Chapter 2 describes that careless lifestyle of suicide wishes, abuse of whiskey, brushes with drugs, near death experiences and interactions with some wicked people. It gave me an inside look at the operations of evil in their own environment and the ruthlessness of their minds that have no value for human life.

I believe being placed in some near death experiences and feeling I was clinging to the edge of a cliff helped me re-find the value of life. There were two significant events beside the brush with alcohol poisoning that impacted my life to change course. One incident was landing myself one night with a group of young adults who grew up in inner-city Philadelphia. Their value system was completely foriegn to me but hey at the time I wanted to party. What a mistake! They tried to get me so induced with cocaine that I almost overdosed. Their sole purpose was to take advantage of my girlfriend. Their plans stopped and they evicted us once they realized I appeared abnormally high and complaining of chest pain. Never again would I use that crap and to this day struggle at times with anger in what they tried to do. The other event that impacted me with fear and wanting to change was becoming entangled with a murder investigation of a childhood neighbor. At the time I liked the rush of excitement and thought we had the inside lead to learn the truth and see justice upheld. I did not realize at first the web that we would walk into which would lead to death threats against my girlfriend and stirring up the police authority concerned for our safety and angry for possibly screwing up their own investigation. I still recall the state police corporal of the investigation screaming at us for our involvement without any authority to do so. The poem "A Severed Heart" is about the person murdered and the hell it placed on her brother. Other poems such as "Swimming in the Drowning Hole" is written regarding my childhood friend Danny and his fate of not turning from his dark ways. Something I believe could have happened to me if I wouldn't have changed my ways. An "Awakening Choice" is about the turning from a life spiraling out of control to a spiritual revival.

Today one would never guess this is the type of life I once led. At the age of 21 I altered course. I began taking life serious and raised my college grades from a failing average to achieving the Dean's list almost every semester earning a BA in Criminology. I did my internship with the District Attorney's office before starting a career in criminal justice/corrections. I spent 10 years in the discipline and counseling of violent juvenile criminal offenders and 7 years in the counseling and management of adult offenders. I have since moved out in the field to their environment to police and assist in their adjustment. Prior to this last move I had several years in a leadership role to where I was confronted with more than just my well being but that of many others. I have learned many things in this leadership role but most of all that I must be willing to take the first steps if anyone else will be willing to tread that same path. I believe indecision is the predecessor to failure. I've learned that practice may not make perfect but it will make permanent. Who we surround ourselves with paints a picture of who we are. Those we lead, instruct and hold accountable will determine our own success or failure. If we lead by intimidation we can only produce results when we are present and the work lacks heart. But if we win their hearts then their true potential will come forth. I have learned to look for that potential and seek their wisdom through listening and observation. I have learned to choose my words wisely because a leader's words travel much faster and are echoed from the rooftops. I have learned to stand by my core beliefs regardless to what anyone else thinks. A double-minded person is like drifting on the waves of the ocean and will eventually wash out to sea. Trying to please everyone only offends everyone because your words will never hold credence. Admitting to a mistake is not a weakness but a stepping-stone to success. When a weakness is exposed and left uncorrected the enemy will know where to strike.

Outside of work I spend my time with my family. I have been blessed with a wonderful family who are my inspiration. Other activities I enjoy are lifting weights to alternative music, being involved in outdoor sports and recreation, traveling, buying and remodeling homes and enjoying tranquil places in nature to just meditate. I further have made it my quest to write this book and counsel others. I am far removed from the pessimistic, foolish mind-set of my late teens. I face adversity with optimism and forge ahead. I learn from my failures rather than dwell on them. I love challenges, adventure and competition. I believe in the principles of chivalry and determination. Though I can be imaginative and spontaneous I tend to be more pragmatic and analytical. It all depends on the life situation. Lastly, I believe we live in a world much more than the three dimensions that we see and there is much to discover that our creator has given us dominion over.

It is my objective that this book will enlighten many and be a bridge to their own course in life. Much of my writings have been inspired not only from my own experiences but by those who I have encountered in life as they struggled to overcome the adversity of life's storms.

The challenge to write this book was difficult. Reading Comprehension and English were my worst subjects in school. My first english professor stated in front of the whole class that I was illiterate and needed to go back to Basic English in high school. Hopefully these writings will prove him wrong. If not I still hope you enjoy.