The People Who Become Part of Our Story
Published:
August 2026Some of the people who shape our lives never realize the role they played.
For many years, the Lone Mountain Stake was part of the fabric of my adult life. It was where friendships were built, children were raised, callings were served, and ordinary experiences quietly became part of a much larger story.
Many people there knew me and my family through good times, difficult seasons, friendships, responsibilities, and the everyday experiences that shape a life far more than we usually recognize while we are living them.
What many may not have known was how much of my life had already been shaped by something that happened when I was ten years old.
In 1975, I suffered a devastating brain injury that nearly took my life. I survived, but I eventually came to understand that surviving something and deciding what you are going to do with the life that follows are two very different things.
For the past several years, I have been writing that story.
AFTER SURVIVAL™ is about the accident, but it is really about what came afterward. Faith, family, loss, forgiveness, accountability, choices and consequences, and ultimately discovering that some of life's hardest experiences can help shape who we become if we allow them to.
My faith in Jesus Christ is an important part of that story, as are many of the people who crossed my path along the way.
Looking back now, I can see that many of the people I knew during those years became part of my story whether they ever realized it or not.
That is one of the things writing AFTER SURVIVAL™ has taught me. Our stories are rarely ours alone. They are shaped by families, friendships, communities, mentors, losses, acts of kindness, difficult conversations, and countless ordinary moments that only reveal their importance years later.
Some people leave a mark on our lives without ever knowing they did.
And sometimes, it takes looking back to finally recognize how much they mattered.
Stories Matter. Legacies Last.™