Happy Anniversary to Me

 Today is the 1 year anniversary of an event that was painful at the time and that changed my  life more than I could have ever foreseen. 1 year ago today I was injured on the job. I won't go into all the details but I was working in Kuwait, took a bad fall and tore my Achilles tendon, broke my foot and ripped the heads out of two of my three calf muscles. It took nine months of treatment and therapy for me to walk unassisted but I walk.

This accident ultimately cost me my job and forced me to leave the Middle East. I came to the Philippines rather than return to the U.S. because the little saving that my wife and I had would last much longer here, my wife had family here, and, to be honest, because I love being in the Philippines.

Even at Filipino prices money does eventually run out and I started needing some way to support myself. My wife can work but I was never a man to do nothing. Being on crutches or canes made finding a job near impossible and I had started to despair ever being fruitful again until my wife looked at me one night and asked "Didn't you tell me you always wanted to be a writer?". It was true, when I was younger, I had wanted to write but as with many dreams, life had gotten in the way. Her opinion was this was God way of giving me a second chance at that dream.

Taking the long and making it short, I started writing. This blog was first and it is still my baby but it didn't pay. Still needing income I looked for other places to write. I found one site that promised a lot but delivered very little, other than a chance to practice. Looking back now I needed the practice bad. If you read my early post here you will see how much I needed practice.

Next I found a site I could submit to but everything had to go through editors. This was my first experience being edited and it was scary learning but I learned from their criticism. Best part this site offered a writing academy. Free education should never be passed up and I learned even more.

Now, I can say I am a professional writer. This blog still doesn't pay the bills but I publish enough articles (over 400 so far) to keep food on the table and lights burning. Much of what I write gets someone else's name on it but I don't mind. Thanks to a bad fall and a good wife, I am living a dream I had given up on long ago. I am a writer.