From Trials to Triumph: Two Sides of One Inspirational Story

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From Trials to Triumph: Two Sides of One Inspirational Story

Posted December 26, 2017 by Sean M

In a recent blog post, I made light of Hallmark Christmas movies and their magical, happy endings. There is a place for those kinds of fantasies in our lives—we can be entertained and inspired by them. But at Inside8, we find our inspiration in the real stories of regular people who show extraordinary character and strength, in part by knowing who they truly are.

This is the story of Kathy and John, a couple, as told in their own words. It’s about how they overcame one challenge after another to arrive at a new place in life—and a new level of personal fulfillment.

No Hallmark magic here. Just an Inside8 Individualist whose positive outlook and inner strength, bolstered by meaningful connections with others, saw her through a devastating accident; and an Inside8 Holistic whose resourcefulness, creativity and sense of responsibility helped him redefine his purpose in midlife. Together, they’re a powerful combination and a lasting couple because they share so many deep-seated values and motivations, including a sense of individuality but also an appreciation for meaningful personal connections; resourcefulness that includes innate creativity and the hands-on ability to turn great ideas into tangible accomplishments; and a real, demonstrable commitment to personal responsibility.

See it for yourself in their stories.

HER STORY: Kathy – Primal Individualist^®

Not long ago I ran almost daily. Then, in September of 2015, I fell—awkwardly—off my bicycle. The pain was immediate and excruciating. It felt like I dislocated my knee—I naively thought the doctors would simply put it back together, and I’d be merrily on my way. Turns out I broke my tibia, fibula, and suffered a tibial plateau fracture, essentially shattering my leg. What followed involved months of pain, rebuilding my leg, multiple surgeries, complications, loneliness and isolation. But I also experienced kindness, selflessness, love and care.

In the midst of this crisis, my husband John’s company wanted us to relocate from Wilmington, Delaware to Houston, Texas. The inability to sell our home delayed the move. Living in Delaware most of my life, much of my family and friends are there. I treasure those people in my life, but felt excited at the adventure of moving to a big city and the opportunities available there. John’s company put us under extreme pressure to get to Houston. They were somewhat appeased by his spending two weeks a month at the office there. I needed constant care, so my family and friends rallied around us.

I’m someone who finds it difficult to ask for help, but I was rendered helpless. I had no choice but to rely on others just to get through the simplest of tasks. We borrowed a bed and set it up in the living room, giving me access to the kitchen and bathroom. I needed assistance with food preparation, bathing and going to the bathroom. Lack of independence wore on me. I shed many tears—more than at any other time in my life.

We finally sold our home and moved while I still needed the use of a walker to get around. We went through extraordinary effort to relocate. And then eight months later, John was laid off from his job.

We felt angry, hurt and in disbelief. The subject of moving to Houston came up a number of times after we married and we finally said yes. We felt it was “meant to be.” This threw that concept out the window, or so we thought. Eight months after being laid off, John got offered an exciting job opportunity as a military contractor in Vicenza, Italy. My brother Dan offered an astute observation. The move from Delaware to Houston makes the transition to Vicenza easier than a move directly from Delaware to Italy.

The experiences over the past two years taught me a few things. I will never run again, but I am forever grateful for all the blessings I received during my recovery. I am acutely aware of my leg every day, but the pain is a daily reminder of how lucky I am.

I am reminded of a distinct memory from childhood. Completing a project on the subject of Portugal, I knew in my heart I wanted to see the world, experience different cultures, and meet people different from me. I’m off on my next adventure with the best partner I could wish for in this life.

HIS STORY: John – Primal Holistic^®

We just moved into what we thought was our last home. Six months later, my company informed me that they were closing my office and relocating me to Houston.

This created quite a dilemma. Do we leave friends and family to start over again? Or do we stay put and hope to find a job here? We decided on the adventure of moving to a big city and taking our chances on something new.

This was a big undertaking as it completely disrupted our lives and those of my mother (who lived nearby in assisted living and now had to move) and my sister who would now be mom’s primary caretaker.

Selling our house in a down market was a painfully slow process as we continuously dropped the price in the hopes of selling quickly. I was also facing mounting pressure from my company to get on with the relocation. It took a year to sell and we lost money at that.

In the middle of all this, my wife suffered a horrific bicycle accident shattering her leg and dislocating her knee. It would take seven surgeries and over a year before she could walk again. This added a great amount of stress to our already stressful situation. Our friends and family stepped up and provided great assistance and comfort during those trying times.

Finally, we arrived in Houston and settled in our new home. It had been 15 months since we were notified of my office’s closing. My wife found an excellent doctor and her final two surgeries were successfully completed. Things were looking good and we were starting to feel at home renewing old friendships and starting new ones. Then the unexpected came: my company laid me off after only eight months in Houston.

After all of the sacrifice and strain of the previous year, I found myself for the first time in my life unemployed. At 59 years old, this was not the situation I wanted to be in. When you are laid off, you have a tendency to try to find the same job again. After months of doing this with no success and no real excitement on my part, it was apparent this was the wrong track. On the advice of my wife, I started to pursue jobs that I really wanted to do and soon a great opportunity emerged to move to Italy and work for the U.S. Army as a contractor.

Part of my journey over the past two years has been to share my thoughts, concerns and passions with others. Talking about the things that have happened over the past two years has definitely helped me, and discovering my real passion stopped a dead-end job search. I have now found an environment where I can use my resourcefulness and sense of personal responsibility to work as a team with likeminded individuals towards a common goal.

What’s Your Story?

In the coming year we hope to share more inspirational stories like this. We’ll continue with the meaningful profiles found in The Jarvis Report. And we’ll devote blog posts like this to telling stories that are relevant to our everyday lives.

Want to tell your story? Connect with us. Go to our Contact page and write us, or simply share on the Inside8 Forum.

About The Artwork

The artwork featured on this blog post is titled “Self Portrait.” It is by Kathy and is a visual representation of her experience recovering from a devastating accident.