I Am From...

I am from a modest, cozy white house with a huge fireplace that my grandpa built with beautiful stone. 

I am from a small town in southern Oregon where the pear trees in the orchard behind our home bloomed.

I am from an elementary school where my best friend of second grade is still my best friend forty-five years later.

I am from a place where honor and doing the right thing were taught and simply expected.

I am from Rainy Pass high up in the remote, wild, and beautiful north Cascade Mountains on the Pacific Crest Trail.

I am from Boy Scout Troop 530, back when the Boy Scouts still helped boys become good men.

I am from giving my dad backrubs to ease the pain as he battled cancer.

I am from Willamette National Cemetery where my father now rests after finally succumbing to that horrific disease when I was only twelve.

I am from a high school where my education back then still far surpasses what I see produced from many colleges and universities today.

I am from my Mom who taught me by example to take care of the family and work hard.

I am from Puerto Rico, Okinawa, and the Middle East, as I roamed the world with the Navy.

I am from Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Fran, Typhoon Nelson, and Desert Storm as I helped those in need.

I am from longing for the quietness of the country while still having to work in the city.

I am from being scared to death holding my newborn baby girl and wondering if I would be a good dad.

I am from designing, building, and optimizing cell phone networks across the entirety of this nation.

I am from Oregon, California, Virginia, North Carolina, and Utah as places I have called home.

I am from a father, grandfathers, uncles, and myriad ancestors that fought for America and the very best of the ideals for which she stands.

I am from the loneliness and grief of burying my late wife who took her own life.

I am from coming to know our Lord and finding out that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, after the futility of atheism. 

I am from the overwhelming joy of loving a perfect woman for me, and her inexplicably loving me in return.

I am from longing for clear mountain streams with only the trout and deer as neighbors.

I am from a fishing rod that my beloved bought for me and I have still not found the time to use.

I am from an upbringing where women are to be respected.

I am from a place where as a child my elders were to be addressed as sir and ma’am.

I am from untouched and seldom seen wildernesses across the West.

I am from tickling my grandkids, watching Pixar movies with them, and threatening to take their X-Box.

I am from playing orange ball with my sweet Border Collie.

I am from a pair of old worn down cowboy boots and country music on my pickup’s radio.

I am from the saddle of a horse next to my beloved wife in Waterton National Park, and giving her a kiss in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

I am from the gratitude that God blessed me to be born in America.

I am from the oath that I would support and defend her and her constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic; an oath that I never saw an expiration date on when I left the military.

I am from the ashes from which God made me and to which I will one day return.

I am from sin that His grace alone can redeem me from with His perfect love.

I am from being blessed far more than I ever deserved.