Unfortunately, at the end of August, 1980, due to my being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was shot through the chest and paralyzed. After a year and a half or so, it became obvious that I wasn't going to recover from this spinal cord injury (incomplete T- 4,5), and since the Marines don't like their people sitting down on the job all the time, I was disability retired. Fortunately, a lot of good has come from this. I shouldn't be alive, but it wasn't my time to go home yet, so God kept me around to have fun, be a tad strange in my sense of humor, and just sort of find myself in the right spot at the right time for a few good people who needed some sort of help in this or that way, and for some reason, it was help that only I had the means, willingness, or capability to carry out in that moment. I've had to learn some new hobbies and develope some new interests of course, (almost everything I did before I was paralyzed involved my legs,) but that has also been a good experience.

I was married for a short period of time, (two and a half years,) and was generally happy with my marraige, even though it had it's weak spots, (on both my and my ex-wife's parts.) We had no children, and so the divorce settlement was relatively easy and bloodless for the most part, as least as divorces go. Through that experience, I learned a lot about what love is, what it is not, and about relationships in general.

A few years ago, I met a person from here in Puerto Rico,and we became friends, and after a few visits, I liked the people, island, and climate so much that I decided to move here! I have not been disappointed at all, and it has been quite the adventure in many ways. It took some adjustment to get used to a climate so much more moderate than what I had grown up used to, (all last winter, I kept unconciously waiting for it to get cold, and Christmas didn't feel at all like Christmas when it was spent in shorts and a T-shirt for most of the day. ) I've adapted though, and every so often, have to let the people back in New Mexico know what they're missing out on... :-)

These last 18 years have been an interesting period in my life, and have let me see and appreciate many things that most people take for granted, or miss seeing entirely. It has also, over the years, led to a few very simple, but important, (to me at least,) philosophies about life. Most people see life these days as all varying shades of gray, with no blacks or whites, but I still see a lot of things in black and white in my simplistic view of life.

I have had a few accomplishments that I am proud of since I have been in this wheelchair, but for the most part, I live a simple and quiet life, and like it that way. I got my fast paced and exciting days behind me WAY back in the past. I like to kick my heels, (or should I say wheels,) up every so often and crank up the stereo to some good music, but for the most part, a good book is better than a movie for me, music is the purest form of emotional expression there is, and it is the small and insubstantial things in life that truly count, rather than the material wealth that so many chase after.

Basically, I'm just a simple man, and live a simple life, and seek no fame or fortune in it. Life is good this way... :-)

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