Pretty Damn Good: A General Life Update

My life is pretty damn good right now. It's not perfect by any means – whose life is actually perfect? All in all, though, my life is swell. I know I'm one of the lucky ones, in the grand scheme of things.

I'm six months away from turning 50. I definitely don't feel that old, and I'm certainly not that mature! I'm married to an amazing woman, April, who I love with all my heart.

We have two delightful dogs that fill me with joy – aside when they're barking incessantly at the completely normal sounds of the suburbs.

My parents are celebrating 55 years of marriage and enjoying retired life.

April and I just got back from 2 weeks in Colorado, where we saw my brothers and their families, which always feeds my soul. We even got a visit from my father-in-law, his wife, and their dog while we were there!

I have a good job at a a good company; same for April. We're starting to think about thinking about retirement, as a concept that isn't in such a distant future. Not close, yet, but a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

Life hasn't always been pretty damn good. I won't go into every twist and turn along the way, or bump in the road that had to be endured. The one that I'll reference is a major health scare that I had about a year and a half ago. Here's what I shared out in February of this year, recounting the previous year's issues:

What a difference a year can make. 

On February 3, 2024, my wife April took to the ER and then admitted to the ICU, in critical condition with Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). The Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis that I’d been given in earlier months wasn’t something I’d been taking seriously enough, and my health plummeted. My A1C level was off the charts, over 14.0, which is the highest the chart went to. My glucose levels were over 355, indicating a dangerous level of hyperglycemia. I was severely dehydrated. I could barely walk, and when I would be sitting up, I could barely keep my head upright. I spent two nights in the ICU, plus another night in a regular hospital room.

While in the hospital, and in the days and weeks following after I was discharged, I received excellent care from the hospital staff, a new endocrinologist, and diabetic consultants. With medication, including insulin injections before every meal, my blood sugar was brought back to a manageable level. I improved my diet, cutting back on the carbohydrates and sugar, and wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It took about 4 months for things to stabilize enough that I could come off the insulin. 

A year later, my A1C level is back in the “normal” range, not even pre-diabetic. I’m still wearing the CGM and monitoring my glucose. I’m still on an oral medication and a weekly injection to keep things under control. I still watch my carbs and my sugar intake. I’m physically healthier today than I have been in a very long time. I’m exercising daily, and I’m losing weight. My blood pressure is getting better, and my cholesterol is back to a “normal” range. My mental health and emotional wellbeing are in a good place, and I’m happy with my life.

On February 3, 2025 — last night — I was reclining in a hot tub, staring at the snow and the trees in Lake Tahoe, spending a couple of nights on my own here before meeting up with a large group of friends for our annual poker trip this week. 

I’m feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for how far I’ve come over the past year. Thank you to everyone who supported me, *especially* the amazing April. I literally would not be here without you. ❤️

I wrote that on February 4th, 2025. Since then, my health has stayed in a good place. Okay, sure, the daily exercising didn't keep going, insert sheepish grin here. But I've lost more weight, another 20 pounds in the past six months. Hard to believe, but I'm 10 pounds lighter today than I was when I started college!

Look, there's a lot of bad shit out there in the world. I don't want to make it seem like everything's rosy. I'm afraid for the future that my nieces and nephew (and billions of other people) are going to be faced with, here in the United States and abroad. In no particular order:

• Attacks on civil rights and personal freedom
• Loss of societal norms and the rule of law
• The rise of fascism and autocracy
• The gutting of educational funding, scientific research, and healthcare
• Insufficient housing and infrastructure
• Resurgences of outright racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia
• Loss of women's reproductive rights
• Environmental catastrophe
• Endless and unjust wars

The list goes on and on and on.

And yet.

While I can be depressed about the state of the world, morally outraged by the actions (or inactions) of elected leaders and their unelected co-conspirators...

I can also be happy with my little slice of life.

I can have hope that cooler heads, and empathy, and kindness will prevail.

And as I was wrapping up writing this post, this song surfaced on my Spotify:

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one