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This letter had been a long time coming, so I apologize for that. I do have a few reasons, and will review the past two and a half years so you will understand where I am coming from. I will just hit the highlights, there is more detail, but…

In January 2000 dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the cancer from asbestos. At the same time the two consultants that I had working from me both resigned, one to go back to his previous company on promotion, the other, who had been with me the longest, had this strange notion that I was supremely wealthy (actually, I was sending him all the clients and so suffering myself) and that what he needed to do was steal my clients! At that time I headed for the first visit to dad (February 2000) and returned to try and rebuild the company. Collin Davey, who I hired from South Africa, then joined the company and we set about the task of rebuilding it. In November I got the dreaded call that dad was now on the way out, and I should head back to South Africa. While I was there Collin called to say that without me, there was no company and he could (quite rightly) not survive without income, and that he was going to re-join Proudfoot. At that time there was also an incident with Dee - which made me face up to the fact that despite the counseling that we had been to, the marriage would never work. Since the loss of her father in November 1995 things had been going steadily downhill and we had grown quite far apart so I returned to deal with that and try to rebuild the company again. I landed a big contract and all seemed well. Dad died mid December and I headed back to bury him.

When I returned I discovered that William's cat, Sox, had feline leukemia and had to be put down. Soft as I am, I could not do it, I said my goodbye's to him and William went down with Dee to do the same. The big contract then fell through before it started and I was faced with the task of closing the company after 5 years and seeking employment. I had always wanted to get into the financial advising industry, and in the 11th hour an opportunity came up which although much lesser pay, enabled me to not have to travel 100% of the time, which the boys agreed was the thing to do. Mom came out to visit and help with the boys during the summer, and Dee moved out in June, she had found an apartment in Roanoke, which I did not feel was suitable so instead we found a nicer place not far from the house in Trophy Club. At this time I was supposed to get additional income from two soccer teams to coach for a guy who I played indoor with. He turned out to be untrustworthy (enough said) and I ended up building most of the team with William and his friends. I headed off to Twin Towers in New York for training, leaving him to manage the team in my absence. I spent $150 of my cell phone time trying to sort out the mess that ensued and finally decided I would no longer deal with him, I would deal with the club owner, only to discover he was cut from the same cloth. When they did not pay me as expected, things came to a head, and to the dismay of (most) the players and parents, I was removed and he took over the position (they club had made them sign contracts committing them to the club).

At this time, 9/11 had just happened, and Morgan Stanley set up a help line for traumatized employees (me being one of them), but as I was not comfortable speaking on the phone, I went back to the counselor Dee and I had last seen. Her reaction to it all was “how on earth are you coping?” (my thought was “that's why I came to see you!”) but my answer was “I guess I deal with one thing at a time, and right now, it is to sell the house” (I had calculated that without the soccer income I could not longer afford the house plus Dee's duplex). The house sold (this was all a very traumatic time, but God was there through it all – and three special ladies came into my life and helped me through it – Jill Vaughn, a survivor of the same cancer that killed dad, Deborah Mireles, a friend from church, and Lana McGee who I met at a soccer coaching clinic that I was giving). I can't go on without mentioning my “angel” in the form of Alvin Neal who put me together every week with a lunch from April 2001 who I met at Mike Vanderberg's church (a South African pastor who became a stock broker now trying to get back to pasturing!), another good friend who helped me through. I was also extremely fortunate to find a house with a nice yard for less than Dee was paying for her duplex (divine intervention again). During the move Dee had been away at her mom's 70th birthday in Cornwall, England. With the house behind me, I could focus on the next thing – what to do about the marriage. Before Dee moved out she had been attending the “Landmark Forum” which was the only program which I felt gave her any insight into the marital problems. At that stage I was “cautiously optimistic” but after she moved out, I came to realize that it had to be ended. When she returned from England she reported on a situation that had occurred while she was over there, and said she had been ready to file for divorce, but since the situation, was not up to it, so I went ahead and filed myself.

Shortly thereafter I had a few visitors, my sister Linda came out and we had a bit of a party at Tom Bath's house, another good friend through this all. We also had a visit from Penny Ward, daughter of probably my greatest mentor, George Ward. If you ever wondered how a social worker got into business and flourished and management consulting, George Ward would be the answer. Sadly, George died the same year as my dad. I last saw Penny when she was 12 years old, she is now and interior designer in London. I also hooked up with a doctor from South Africa, Basil Bernstein, who has become a fast friend, along with Tom Bath who I met while caching his son Carson (Jasons age) It seems God was incontrol of it all as I was blessed to have Ashley and Lynn (with Matthew and Sarah) move in to town, they were a great support – and then left January 2002 on promotion to Singapore! At that point the Skinners (Eagle Mountain Church friends) moved back into town, so my support network remains strong!

The children since Dee moved out had been trading one week back and forth (usually on a Friday), a system which I have only found in the United States and one that I found appealing. The children do not feel like one of the parents “abandoned them” and get to have an equal amount of input from both parents. The divorce agreement basically kept to the program that we already had going, and when the divorce was finalized in March 5, 2002 – to all intents and purposes, nothing changed for the boys. I am paying more than I am required to under Texas law, but wanted it to be so that as far as they were concerned, nothing changed, it was only a piece of paper.

A great piece of news came about in May when William – at Dee's prodding – enter in the “Verizon Win@School” essay contest – a national contest promoted by the USA Olympic luge team - where they had to write a one page essay about how a book had inspired them. William wrote on a book called “Holes” by Louis Sachar and how the character overcome adversity and said “All of these things have helped me to survive through the hard times my parents are having” – which I think is the line that did it for him! The computer arrived in June – and is more computer than have ever owned, so he is indeed a blessed young man!

Which brings us to June, 2002. I did speak to other soccer clubs about coaching for them, but finally decided that I would not put myself in a compromising position once more, and instead with the help of some friends and parents from the indoor team, we started our own club. The “Lions Soccer Club” – which I had been contemplating about the time that dad got ill, finally came into being. The boys U12 (with both William and Jason on it) were undefeated on their first indoor season, and are the core for the select team for next season. The girls team are not as strong and as of now we are not sure whether they will form an outdoor team or just stay indoor. In January I did a National Youth Coaching license, which has changed my style considerably. The game is now a huge “puzzle” which the players must “solve” and we keep having fun and enjoying the game foremost. I also went ahead and got my referee license, and then got sucked into refereeing in the top youth leagues in Dallas, which was an education for me – both at the caliber of play, and at the difference between coaching a game and refereeing. It all happens so fast and furious, that it is not as easy as it looks and now I am even more of a proponent of not yelling at the players AND the referee, as I “are one!”

So, that about bring you up to date on the “saga of the life of one man…” Maybe I should write a book! Fortunately, life is not about how many times you get knocked down, but rather about how many times you stand up!”