What an incredibly somber past couple of weeks for the Center of Martial Arts, as well as for myself.

It all began with a call from my instructor, Larry's family that his dad's days were numbered. Larry was gone from the Center for 5 days leaving us to keep everything running. His dad made progress, so Larry came home on labor day. On labor day we were struck with the news that a student from our school had gotten into an car accident early that morning, struck a utility pole and died on impact. I have compared her loss to that of a co-worker's...i knew her enough that it hurts. I hurt for her, I hurt for her family, I hurt for my Martial Way family, and though selfishly, I hurt for me. She was a friend! I'll always remember Allie's laugh: it was so genuine and from the toes. Later in the week, my friend Chris finds out that his ex-girlfriend's mother has stage 2 lymphoma cancer. On Thursday I was laid off from my job. (Forced to quit due to a cut in weekly hours) I never saw it coming, so now I'm in the midst of searching for a new, decent paying job. I have two leads so far, and I'm not giving in. Stupid photography people. We went to Allie's wake on Friday and that's when it hit me as hard as it could. Her best friend was also a student at the school, and while comforting her and telling her how we were there for her, she told us that she wouldn't come back for a while, but would come to the formal we'll be having, because the two of them already had their dresses picked out. That hit me. As soon as I got back to my car, I lost it. I'm glad Chris was their with me, I would have hated to be alone at that moment. Training that night was hard, my heart just wasn't in it. I spoke to Robert afterwards, and we cried together for a good while, then went to eat and talk, appreciating life: the large and the small things, how we enjoyed Chunky soup to how excited we were to go to California this upcoming weekend, to how great a mother's cooking is. This Saturday on 9/11 we had a self defense seminar. This Sunday we had our end of summer party, and right as things were getting under way, Larry got the call. His father had passed. I believe that was the pinnacle to these last two weeks. Things can only go up from here.

This Wednesday is the Incubus concert. I'm very excited! Amy, Issa, and Kristy are all coming with me. Hooray! Then I fly out on Friday for California to compete in The Cold Steel Challenge on Saturday and Sunday.

So, I'd like to end this post with a truly inspiring quote taken from Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who errs and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Truly, be the doer in life. No matter what curveballs are thrown at you, you cannot lie down and die. Life goes on, no matter how many twists and turns there will be. If you never try, or if you lie down and die, how will you ever know if you could have succeeded?