No Place but UP!

No Place but UP!Growing up in central Wisconsin is synonymous with growing up on flat ground and in oxygen rich air. At age sixteen I faced my first uphill climb; the emotional battle of coping with the loss of my father. At thirty six years of age Hodgkin's Lymphoma claimed his life. His death was a wake up call for me that life can be short. Eleven years later, I became a father. The day occurred six weeks earlier than expected. The fragility of life was once again

Growing up in central Wisconsin is synonymous with growing up on flat ground and in oxygen-rich air. At age sixteen I faced my first uphill climb; the emotional battle of coping with the loss of my father. At thirty-six years of age Hodgkin's Lymphoma claimed his life. His death was a wake-up call for me that life can be short.
Eleven years later, I became a father. The day occurred six weeks earlier than expected. The fragility of life was once again revealing itself. During my premature son's hospital stay I picked up a book about Mount Everest. Although I had never climbed before, my dream to stand on top of the world was sparked within after reading that book. I didn't exactly know how or when but I knew that I would go to that mountain.
Within all of us resides a vision, a defined quest in life. It is a unique purpose, waiting to be unlocked. Twelve years after my vision occurred, I became one of less than four thousand people in the world to reach its highest point.