The Necessity of Change

Greetings to all the amazing people in this wonderful community called “The Cove.”

Whether you were born and raised here, or you’re an import like me (over 4 years now has to count for something), you can’t deny this is a fantastic place to live!

When my wife, Kary, and I were considering a move from our hometown, it wasn’t just about a job, or a church. It was about a community. We were looking for a community in which we could put down our roots and grow. We were looking for a community where we could raise our four children to get a quality education, make new and lasting friendships, and leave a legacy that would run generations deep. I can say with all certainty that we found exactly that!

But let’s be real. It wasn’t exactly easy to leave behind friends and family in pursuit of something bigger. Something better. Change is hard. Change isn’t always fun. Change can challenge everything we thought we knew, and change can happen at a moment’s notice, with our without our permission. But change, as my grandfather would say, is necessary.

I cherish the memories I have of this man. What you probably don’t know about me is that I was adopted at a very young age by my grandparents on my father’s side of the family. Now as you can imagine, there’s a whole big story there that just can’t fit on the pages of this newspaper. I’m sure I’ll tell more of that story as our time together goes on, but for the sake of this first article, let’s just focus on the reality of my situation. Even as a child, I experienced change that I did not ask for. So as an adult, what do I do with this?

It wasn’t always easy, and very difficult to accept, but I’ve learned to embrace who I am because of this change in my life over 40 years ago. I am the man I am today because of this change. I can choose to dwell on it, or I can choose to grow from it. After all, there are some advantages of being born into Generation X, and raised by two wonderful people from the Greatest Generation. My perspective is different from most others my age. The generation gap I was raised in has caused me to look at life with a different set of eyes. In a lot of ways, I’m living out the legacy of my grandparents as I raise my own children with the values and morals they instilled in me.

My hope is that I can share some of these perspectives with all of you. We can talk about anything from Cove life to alien life, with a strong element of faith intertwined. Because that was how I was raised, and it’s what I know.

Thanks for reading. It’s my honor to share this life with you.