Success Stories

Small Successess Along the Way

There is a certain motivation that comes from reflecting on one’s past. Throughout life there are good times and bad. To arrive at the place I am today I have worked hard and battled different demons along the way. Without the small portions of success on my life journey, I wonder if I would be the man I am today.

Success comes in many different shapes and forms. While attending high school I met a girl, named Somer, who changed the course of my life. She was born with muscular dystrophy and was unable to walk since the age of twelve. The fact that Somer was confined to a wheelchair did not take away from my attraction to her. We began dating and fell in love. At the young age of fourteen and sixteen, we began our life together. We both dropped out of high school. We moved to the small town of Hedley, Texas. I began working at a feedlot. On my first day of work, I felt like a man. I was on top of the world. I was in love and had my first job to support my soon-to-be wife.

Shortly after our wedding, we welcomed an addition to our family. Our son was born October 19, 1997, and weighed one pound eleven ounces. He was three months premature due to his mom’s weight and confinement to a wheelchair. Each day during his three-month stay in the hospital, as soon as I got off work, we drove seventy-five miles to the hospital and seventy-five miles back, just to spend a few hours with Ethan Lynn. He was a small miracle in the works. God gave this success to me so I could be a better man.

We moved to Amarillo when Ethan was one-year-old. I soon found myself in a world full of greed and hate which would change my life. I became involved in a lifestyle of drugs, violence, and heartache that drove me into a dark black hole. I stayed in that world for almost thee years, battling demons. My wife struggled everyday to bring me back to reality and Ethan grew up while I was not looking. On New Years day 2001, I found myself lying in a cold, concrete, eight-by-eight cell with a solid steel door. That was one of many times I found myself in jail, but that time I felt different. I felt as if I was singled out from my family and the world. The solid steel cell door was closed tightly and the key was lost. Upon my release from jail, I managed to get control of my life. To escape the bad influence, I moved my family back to our hometown of Clarendon, Texas. I worked hard to prove to my family and friends I had changed my ways. I began work for a construction company. My boss was a seventy-year-old Irish man who saw my potential. I respected him. I watched this man and learned about respect and discipline. This success of learning about respect and discipline changed my view of life.

I have worked hard for the things we have and where we are today. To set a good example for my son, who is now seven years old, I began attending GED classes at Region 16 Education Service Center, and March 2005 successfully obtained my high school equivalency. I plan to go to college to continue to better myself. I now work for the City of Clarendon as a Department Head of Animal Control and am a volunteer for the Clarendon Fire Department. I have been sober for over three years. These are just small portions of my life I consider successes. Without the small successes along the way, I would not have this opportunity to tell you who I am today.