Why Did I Write this Book?

First and foremost, this book is for my children. My wife, Beth, and my three sons, Chris, Kyle and Jacob, are the most important people in the world to me. And while many of the stories shared in this memoir are familiar to them, the circumstances and connective significance may not be. Ultimately, I want them to know “me” - my childhood, struggles, failings, and triumphs.

“My intention is to share, as earnestly as I am capable, enough of these sacred experiences that made me “me” -- a still flawed but grateful person who has been given enough time on this earth to appreciate that past hardships can ultimately become transformative gifts.”

Just Enough Light, p. 6

I also wrote this book to demonstrate the capacity for kindness and grace that I am convinced is in all of us. Not always is this capacity practiced or manifested but, when it occurs, can be transformative. It literally saved my life.

“I never learned the name of this bus driver who came to my aid and who asked me for nothing in return. While I wanted to live, I couldn’t think of any good reason for living. He gave me a reason to want to live. This stranger remains in my heart and mind today, and his act of grace has been shared with literally thousands of people, mostly high school students whom I was blessed to teach. He not only valued a life that day, but he gifted to me an understanding of unconditional grace that I have tried to extend to others in both my personal and professional life.”

Just Enough Light, p. 180 - Footnote 51