In 2006, my life was a wreck. I wasn't doing good to myself, my family, or anyone really. In the summer of that year, I was dealing with substance abuse and seclusion. I reached a breaking point in August with my family while on vacation. I was not myself anymore... Not even close - I was pretty lost and didn't feel like being found. In the fall, I knew I needed to change my path and proceeded to try and do so by myself. I started working at a dog kennel in Boulder and drove this 92 accord to and from work every day listening to a set of cd's in the trunk. During that time, I was still dealing with trying to rid myself of bad habits (heck, still doing that today), and had gotten very into music production and sound engineering. I had always been into music, but at this time in my life it had become a better friend. Things were going to get better.
2007 came, and things were about to change. I was living on my own and still working at that kennel. I was staying busy... still driving in that car, forming memories while listening to that same set of 10 cd's in the changer. I went to Maui with my family over Easter and was consciously trying to make things better with my Mom, Dad, and pregnant Sister. I decided to get back into triathlon that summer and met my future wife at the Longmont Tri in late May. My nephew was born in July of that year and realized where I wanted to get to... I knew that being a dad was something that I was looking forward to experiencing.
I was engaged in early 2008, then married in January of 2009. Beth and I had one of the most amazing weddings ever. No joke - it was awesome. We had bought a house together in mid 2008 before we got married, so it was easy coming back and starting our life out together as a married couple. Somewhere in 2009, I stopped listening to music in my car and turned to NPR exclusively. Those CD's sat in that changer in the trunk unused.
By march of 2010, we knew Beth was pregnant and were expecting a child in November. This was planned and unplanned at the same time. I had signed up for my first Ironman while on vacation over new years. I was supposed to race an ironman and have a kid within days. It ended up happening that way... I raced IMFL on Nov. 6th and we had Aiden on Nov. 15th. November of 2010 was a month that took me to another level in life. It was - and may always be the greatest month of growth I have ever experienced. I still was not listening to those cd's. They sat quiet.
Fast forward two years. I have lost both of my grandparents (on mom's side), had two new nieces come into the world, gone back to school and am about done with my degree, coached for two different swim teams, started coaching triathlon, formed new friendships, raced three ironmans in the span of two months, finished Kona, had two birthday parties and three christmases with my little boy, along with lots of other things. During this, that set of cd's sat in my trunk not spinning.
So yesterday, while trying to put on some christmas music in the car, I realized that the radio wasn't working. For the first time in a long time I flipped the stereo to the cd changer. I threw on a Guster cd that was in the trunk from 2006. I looked in the rear view mirror at my son Aiden and was able to see where I have come from six years ago. It was an awesome feeling.
