Hi Jackie: I feel, I am the one who is blessed. I never expected to survive Vietnam, and should have died a thousand times on the battlefields of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Against all of destiny’s algorithms to the contrary, I survived my injuries and miraculously awoke for a prolonged coma. I returned home, as many of my combat brothers had soil cover their graves, to lead the fantasy of a Norman Rockwell drawing of a house with a front lawn strewn with toys, a white picket fense, a drivway with a parked car and kids drinking lemonade on a warm day, as my wife stood behind the screen door admiring her life. I was told by more than one doctor the injuries I received and the diseases I contracted did not bode well for a life over 65, and so, I lived my life in a frenzy to get it all in. I am 80. Just goes to show you. My wife and daugters, and the grandchildren are my reward for being the best I could be and holding on to the dream that formulated in combat. If only I lived through…. There are blessings, there are miracles, and there is your destiny. I have witnessed too much to believe in miracles, and while I use the term, I do not believe there is a grand purpose for me, except for what I make of the life given to me, and only mine to live. My family put up with a lot. I always took each day as if it was my last. I express my love and gratitude every day, because I can. No one more than me, understands there will come a day when I can’t. Just saying.