Robert and Many Other Special People

About the Direction and Title The direction of this book is to cover the years I spent in the world of work and my associated private life at that time. To say that my years working in my career were enjoyable and challenging would be an understatement. My private life was also enjoyable and challenging. My life in these years was in many ways a mystery. As you read, you will see many eventful happenings and energy whose base was my God and Savior. It is my hope that Robert and Many Other Special People will be a book as good as the books People +Me and God Keeps On Giving. The Influence of Others on Me This book is about people in my life with developmental disabilities. As time passed, another thought about the title of my book struck me. I am but a product of all my experiences, which include all other people, if I am open to them. It works another way. Other people who are open to me would have the capability of showing reflections of me in their lives. We are all more like others than different when we analyze their influence on our lives and ours on theirs. Our influences on others and theirs on us are at times recognized. Often influences are not recognized, but they do take place. The importance of influences is that they do take place and are often helpful to others, not that people get credit. In these writings, recognition for helpful actions is many times an incomplete act. Goals Knowing and getting to where one wishes to be in life is of paramount importance. That is why my life has been driven by goals. I would speculate that some of my major goals are similar to many of your goals: to love God, to obtain an education, to have meaningful relationships, to fall in love, to marry, to have children, and to be successful at one’s profession. In the end, we hope to find sources of fulfillment and happiness. One other more unusual goal for me was to write this book based on my experiences. All goals had one common denominator: to help me live a worthwhile existence and, if possible, in the process, help other people on their life journeys. Support In pursuing my goals, I have realized that other people often supported me even when I thought I was trying to help them. Over the years, I have found, and it will be evident as you read, that the greatest help I have received was from God. I feel my twin who died at three months in utero has been another important influence on me. Writing the Book As I have grown older and experienced various events, I made it a practice to constantly document and share the many good and not-so positive times in my life. The passing of people, particularly my father, mother, sister, and especially my son Mark, as well as many friends and neighbors, has always caused me to think about life’s journey. My hope is that I can pay homage to the many people and the most influential being in my life, God. When I have a potentially noticeable experience, either in the present or past, I tried to quickly evaluate the happening to see if it is one that I can document and share. It is exciting for me to have the opportunity to share my life and the people in my life with others. It is actually more than exciting; it is a major driving force in my life to develop this book for others’ enjoyment and benefit. While it is impossible to sum up one’s life in a book, it is possible to leave behind stories about many other wonderful people and myself. It was never my intention to embarrass, make fun of, or in any way put down anyone in my writings. If I made an error in judgment and hurt someone, I am sorry. You see, writing this book is a risk. The risk is that, at times, I may not convey the information in the best possible manner, and it would be offensive. To guard against this possibility I have obtained permission from others when appropriate. While at times I used the involved individuals real names, other times I did not. In writing this book, I have striven to make the text interesting, the contents related to the readers’ needs, entertaining yet not dragging on, and one that can be read in either short or longer periods with the use of vignettes. In the attempt to make the book interesting I have tried to describe the many individuals in as much detail as possible. Race,color and creed where appropriate are included. Since most people are of the color of skin white, I did not describe these individuals as such. Afro-American , hispanic and others were described as it added to the text and I wished to honor their natural makeup. It is important that the text be understood by the intended audience and that the content has some commonality with the readers’ lives. I ask you to enjoy the readings and forgive any unintentional errors in the text. Experiences in our lives are unique to each of us. No other person can go through them as we have. Yet experiences do usually have similarities with other people. For example, when we were into the Halloween holiday, we had the anticipation of obtaining lots of candies. We were also into choosing the right costume and going with our siblings or friends door to door in the neighborhood. When we hear, see, think, or read about Halloween, we identify with these memories. As you read this book, my hope is that you can identify with many of the experiences I have gone through and enjoy parts of your life again. One Book Becomes Three I invite you to join me in reliving my life experiences and important lessons I have learned from them. As I began writing the book, the number of pages dictated that two books must be the result. The first volume covers my life from the beginning up to and including my first year of marriage and is titled People + Me. The second volume covers my professional career and exemplifies as the title states that God Keeps On Giving to me professionally and personally. The third volume is Robert, and Many Other Special People covering many of the special people I have had the honor of knowing. Influence of Others Many people have made a difference in my life. I have seen that everyone I have known or will meet may potentially affect my life in some way. A poem sent to me for Christmas in 2007 by Maxine Mobley, grandmother to my daughter-in-law, Tara, written by an unknown author, captured my sentiments on the influence of other people affecting my life very accurately. Part of the poem went like this: For I am but a total of the many folks I’ve met And you happen to be one of those I prefer never to forget, And whether I have known you for many years or few, In some way you have had a part of shaping things I do. Everyone’s life is shaped by others. Please enjoy how mine has been shaped by the special people in my life, and possibly by you.