ABOUT TOM

A young mother raised by herself, with two young children in a rough converted garage for seven years. Such were the cards dealt and the hand to be played. Some things are choices to be weighed, and others are not. In life, there are winding paths with branches holding signs offering divergent paths to reach the sun. A child, too small, shy, quiet, and introverted, tried to set his compass. A grandfather attempted to fill the void left by a wayward father. The challenge of almost dying at nine from an infection left its mark. At age 10, I met a man on a baseball field, a coach reached out to me. I became more assertive and willing to take a chance and deflect negativity.

High school years are in the usual pit of Vipers, social climbing, bullies, and too much testosterone. I worked midnight shifts on weekends and during the summer for nearly three years because I was determined to leave this town, go my way, and be the first in the family to attend university. Freedom has consequences…too much parting… and I paid a price. At university, I met my future wife of 45 years.

After graduation, I did not want three things as I entered a new career: Toronto, anything related to sales, and chemistry. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I got all three, and I remember my stepfather sitting at the dinner table telling me in no uncertain terms that I would never succeed. I spent 10 years at my first job, became a sales manager, held some sales records, and wrote the company sales manual. I learned a lot and took that with me on my next adventure. My spirit wanted more…I needed more…I wanted to be self-employed to have my fate in my hands—a new mountain called.

At age 32 and a bit, my wife and I bought a marina, a retail operation with three kids under four. It was my pushing that got us there. I have often said it remains the dumbest thing I have ever done. We started day one with $2.00; payroll was in two weeks. We survived as a business that faced tremendous challenges. At times, it appeared that no sunrise would come. Then came the life-altering time of my wife losing her younger sister, a sister I helped raise like one of my own. My wife was never the same. This was my first genuine experience with lasting grief. Later, business-wise, things improved. We grew once more.

In 2019, after a sinus infection, I was told in 8 minutes, I was a dead man walking. My hourglass was running out of sand. I felt fine, and I worked to improve my health. In 2020, my wife was told she had stage four cancer, and her time was ending. Battling to the end, she passed in the summer of 2021. Our business was never the same for me. I sold the marine business after 36 years on April Fool’s Day 2022. A writing career started from the seeds of a joke I told about myself during reflections of grief. A writer, a poet, and an artist went into a bar…

Now, almost every day, I spend the mornings writing while my new wife sleeps. I write poetry, song lyrics, and works of fiction. One should hope that with decades of passing and the imprinting of experience, one’s thoughts will have depth. There are days I paint acrylic landscape scenes, I know, or sometimes I do not—visions of places that resonate. In 2025, I will publish my first book, a work of fiction called The Lighthouse. Following that is The Mailbox, a book of witches throughout time. Later in the year or early spring 2026, Under A Moonlit Night…The Sun Always Rises is a journey to light after loss and hardship.

What interests me these days? Sunsets, sunrises, time, hourglasses, metronomes, light and the opposite darkness, ghosts of the past, my past, and our pasts, Déjà vu, and reincarnation. Our world, and the building’s nest, is a mess. Maybe we prefer it that way. The uncertainty and excitement of chaos. It is said that there is no greater thrill than being shot at. Your life flashing before you… that vision of your past, and what may not come. Maybe that is in our DNA. Humanity rose from the sea…we love to wiggle in time.

Join me for the ride…I do not expect it to be boring. Politics is for others…I deal with life. I wrote a poem about politics called Bullshit! One day I will share it. Still here, walking this earth, eyes wide open as I don’t want to miss anything. I do not use the word “retired” and refuse to do a bucket list. I have so many more things to do, see, and touch before my last sunset, filling me with excitement and anticipation. Although I walk forward to my sunset, my sun has not yet set. The warmth of the sun still falls upon my face. Now I write words of life, stories of challenges, adventures, the twists of one’s life, and beauty. Yes, I have opinions and may be preachy. Join in the never-ending twists of a road. A road left with my

footprints, some fading into sunsets, some not, as a spirit still rides the winds of time. Words carry meaning in stories, the voice of lyrics, and poetry. There is a hope that something will remain with you in these words and images.