“Life isn’t concerned with your artificial sense of importance. At some point, there will be a divergence between the story you tell yourself and the cold, hard reality. Your net worth won’t matter, and the fall will be much steeper.”

The purpose of life is to be a nobody.

You can find Zat Rana at this link

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There are few days when I don’t think of them. But they are rare. There are moments of panic when I think, “Crap, I haven’t talked to mom in a long time. I should call her” Then it hits me. It is getting easier, but very slowly. There was/is a numbness about both my parents being gone. That is starting to fade and at times it is harder now then when they first passed.

Sure, I make jokes about my parents being dead all the time. That is how I deal with bad things. I’m still not Batman. WTF!?

I have the most remarkable friends and family that have helped me through this past 476 days. Thank you!!

Love you all.

Doug

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Before I bought the audio book for the Art of Asking, I knew very little about Amanda Palmer (AFP). I knew she was a musician and did some performance art. I had seen some of the things AFP did with people drawing and writing on her. I had also heard of the trouble she and her publisher were having with Amazon. I knew she had some tie to Neil Gaiman and that my step-son got her autograph on her kindle cover.

I saw the news that her war with Amazon was over and decided to support that cause and bought the audio book on 11/20/14 as a birthday present to myself.

The morning of 11/24 I was on the road for work (sales) and started listening to AFP read me her story. I might have been an hour into it when I knew I loved her.

I laughed and cried within the first 15 minutes. There is such an honesty about her and that coupled with her reading it…   I called my fiancee and told her about AFP and the book, about how I felt changed in the first few hours of listening to the book. I cried while talking about the book.

I can’t explain who AFP is, but she is different from most of us. Sees the world with different eyes.  Below are two of my favorite quotes from the book.

“Asking for help with shame says:
You have the power over me.
Asking with condescension says:
I have the power over you.
But asking for help with gratitude says:
We have the power to help each other.”

“You can’t ask authentically and gracefully without truly being able to accept “No” for an answer. Because if you’re not truly willing to accept “No” for an answer, you’re not really asking, you’re demanding — you’re begging. At least, that’s how I’ve come to understand asking.”

As I listened to the rest of the book and felt myself changing, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love. Not just for AFP, but everyone and everything.

I sent this tweet on 11/26/14

Dear @amandapalmer I have never heard your music. Just finished your audio book. Need more than 140. I Love You. #Tears #love #amandapalmer

— Doug Johnson (@Doug_G_Johnson) November 26, 2014

I get home from my trip and order two copies of the book from Amazon. One for my daughter and one for my step son. A few days later, AFP mention Mass Mosaic and a book store called Porter Square books. I get an idea. I buy 2 signed copies of The Art of Asking and 10 more regular copies. 14 books spread to the world.

The farthest book went to Sweden. Tomorrow I will mail the last of the 14 books. They were all gifts. Most went to complete strangers.

I am so grateful to have been able to do this. So full of love.

Asking for help is like giving a gift.

If you need help ask.

Doug

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But I had planned for it. Plan A was to commit suicide, Plan B was to live my life and never look back.

Plan B, what a glorious thing. When I did wake up, I went forward and have not looked back since.

I wish I could help every person that is on that ledge, let them see inside me and understand the possibilities that they have in front of them. That things will most likely get better. I don’t think there is anything anyone could say to me to keep me from making the attempt, but no one had a clue. I made a plan and moved on. I was actually at a party the night before and had a really good time, but no one there knew.

Here I am now, 4 years later. What a difference 4 years make.

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He was diagnosed with acute leukemia last November. He tried chemotherapy but it had little effect. He had many blood transfusions (thank you donors). More recently he developed congestive heart failure, pneumonia and a subdural hematoma from falling out of bed.

It was time and he was ready. We all were, but it is still really fucking hard.

My dad was 84 at the time of his passing on Sunday May 11th. My mom is 82 and they celebrated their 63 wedding anniversary in March. I am the youngest of 4. I have a brother and two sisters. They were all amazing during this whole process. My sisters both took time off work to take dad to chemotherapy and other doctors appointments. My oldest sister handled dad’s meds, grocery shopping for mom and dad. They have shown me what family is. True heroes. My brother flew his family in from California and was there holding dad’s hand when he took his last breath. My dad was preceded by one of his sisters and is survived by another sister and a brother.

Most of my dad’s life was spent making custom cabinets and woodworking at a small business he shared with a partner. I remember going to work with him many times when I was younger. Helping sweep the shop, installing cabinets and being an extra pair of hands when he needed them. I will always love the smell of fresh cut wood.

Dad was a story teller and had a wonderful sense of humor. It was this that led to my first realization that I was like my dad. When I was in my early teens, this thought terrified me. Now I understand how lucky I am. The day before he passed away he pulled a joke on the four of us by pretending to be dead for a few moments. We all laughed and cried.

About a week ago, we were visiting my dad and he was telling us some stories from his Air Force days. He mostly did wood working while in the service. He was stationed in Chicago and has a picture of the Enola Gay when it was there. Some of this stories I had never heard before. It made me so happy to hear them, it also broke my heart that these stories would be gone. I wondered what other stories we had not heard.

Dad would give you the shirt off of his back and then anything else you might need. Like my sister said today, he was a simple man that had an extraordinary life. He was deeply loved by all that knew him.

I was very fortunate to have some time off between jobs and get to spend extra time with my dad during this time. Before I left him at the hospice for the last time, I told him he was an amazing father and thanked him for everything. The last words I said to him were “I Love You”

I am lucky to have had him as a father and luckier still to be like him.

Doug

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I can almost remember the first time I realized I was my dad, or close enough to make a teenager sweat. At a young age I already had his mannerisms, speech patterns and sense of humor. His ability to tell the same story over and over again without noticing.

The first few times I knew I was becoming my father, I was very unhappy. What teenage boy wants to grow up and be his dad?

As I got older, I understood how much I wanted to be like my dad. Now, as I understand how finite my father’s life is, how happy I am that I am like him. I got the best parts of him.

A few months ago, my dad was diagnosed with acute leukemia, ten days earlier my mother under went surgery to remove a non-aggressive lymphoma. She has since recovered. He has had three rounds of chemotherapy. The chemo he is on has a 40% success rate. It is starting to look like he is in the 60%.

When you are young, you never think of your parents dying. As you get older, you start to realize it will happen some day. Some day has become very real.  For me, I now understand, that as the youngest of four, I might be the last to go. My eldest sister is 15 years older them I am. The last few months have been very sobering. This is starting to feel like the balance for being the spoiled youngest to be the one that might have to see the rest pass before you.

What do I say to the man who has given me so very much? How do I even start to say goodbye while he is still here? I know I can never express it properly, I can never show enough gratitude.

I gave my dad a Superman themed birthday card last Saturday. I wrote in it that he has always been my hero.

Happy Birthday Dad.

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Here was Plan A: The night of December 11th, 2010 the kids and I watched Despicable Me (the not yet ex wife was out for the evening) I put the kids to bed, drank about a liter of Maker’s Mark, took about 100 extra strength Tylenol and all of my anti-depressants. I put on my favorite pajamas, took my pillow and iPod to my room in the basement. Put the iPod on shuffle and then lay down on the floor to go to sleep.

People talk about suicide as a rash spur of the moment decision, it was not it my case. I had my plan in place for about 3 weeks. I was calm and rational about it. But along with Plan A, i also had to consider what happens if I wake up. Hence, Plan B was developed.

Plan B contained a few major bullet points.

Promise that I would never make this attempt again and those close to me know I do not use that word lightly. I have not made many promises in my life as I will only promise things I know I can do. I made this promise to many family and friends. I have not thought about it since.

Figure out who I was. I spent the last decade or so hiding on the couch, withdrawn from the world watching TV and movies. I barely made myself available for my ex and kids. I knew this needed to change, that I needed to know who I was before I could go any where.

Figure out what Love means to me. For much of our marriage, my ex told me I did not love her. I needed to understand what she meant and if she was right.

From the moment I woke up at 3:30 am and stumbled upstairs to bed, I was on Plan B. When my ex got home I made it downstairs and told her what I did and the road to Plan B started in earnest. I got to the hospital around 2pm on Sunday the 12th and was discharged on Friday the 17th around noon. Lots of time to think and think in the hospital and it was very helpful.

So from this point forward December 12th will be a day of reflection for me. Am I still me? Am I on my right path? Am I happy? What do I want or need to change to make all of those answers yes?

What about you? How can you answer those questions? Way deep down in the parts of yourself you don’t show to others and often not even yourself, how do you really feel?

Make a change and get started, please don’t sit on the couch. Read the rest of my blog, it covers a lot of what I did to make changes.

There is help out there.

As always, ask questions. I am here to help.

Doug

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26 or so years ago, I rubbed a girl’s feet at a party. She doesn’t remember this happening. It was that small, the start of this whole thing. It was my flapping of the butterflies wings. Flash forward to June of  2011. I was searching online for the girl who’s feet I rubbed at my friend’s party. Let’s call her Tanya Uniquelastname. What are the odds of two people having that last name? Who I found was the sister of the girl with the feet. Let’s call her Jasminda. We became fast friends, Jasminda and I. I did not think you could “click” with someone on Facebook, but you can. We became instant friends. Now she is family by choice.

While enjoying Facebook, I started to notice posts on Jasminda’s wall by someone named Red. She seemed funny, clever & intelligent. She liked my posts! You know what they say about that… Jasminda told Red she would like me. She told Red to “friend” me, she did. August 14, 2011 We also hit it off right away. Lots of private messaging and chatting.

Red asked me to dinner a mere 4 days after we “friended” on Facebook. We met there at 7, they kicked us out, at closing, at 11. We were all casual at first. All cool and reserved. Whatever….  But as time passed my thoughts kept returning to her. Who was this woman? How can she like me when I am being me?

Our iPods were eerily similar. We could often not tell who’s was playing. We liked live music, theater, dancing, steak, whiskey, beer…. It was really a birds of a feather thing as opposed to an opposites attract vibe. There was a peace, a tranquility with her. I found a stillness within myself I had never known. A great comfort in the fact I did not need her. There was no need, no hunger that was absolutely needing to be satisfied. There was a pull to be close, to share, to explore, to experience and most of all, the understanding it was mutual.

Fast forward to my birthday 2011. Red came home early from out of town because she missed me and did not want to miss my birthday. What a crazy and amazing evening. I was a wreck. That was when we became steadies? What do you call it? Exclusive? Sounds like a record company. Registered Companions?

What followed (and continues) was music, love, food, beer, dancing, love, so much laughter and joy.

Here we are, 2 years from when we “friended” We both talked about never getting married, but as time passed we both talked about what ifs and you knows. We have also talked about the meaning of marriage and the place it has in society. Just last night she gave me an anti proposal. We have proposed to each other multiple times, we have always said yes. I am just looking to make it more official.

So, right here, right now, I am asking, will you marry me Red?

And like every question I ask; no is a perfectly acceptable answer.

This is more a declaration of my intent to hold your hand whenever possible; to make you smile more than is reasonable and love you truly, madly deeply.

And if you say yes, when, is so very unimportant.

The post A Modest Proposal. first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

My marriage ended after almost 20 years. It needed to, it had run it course. We were very good friends, but terrible spouses. It was time to move on and for both of us to try to find ourselves and learn to be happy again.

Because we were friends, we were able to do the divorce Pro Se. No lawyers, no fighting, just discussing what was most fair for both of us. We made spread sheets and looked at debt and income, we talked about contingencies, we talked about what was best for our kids. In the end, we came to an agreement, signed the paperwork and gave it to the court after an 18 month separation. On February 28th, the judge signed the papers and it was done. It cost us maybe $200 total and we are still friends.

What I hear about from my friends in my divorce group is startling. The fighting, hatred, anger all of the ugliness inside people coming out to hurt the person they promised to love and honor forever. So much selfishness…  You once loved this person so very much you made them the promise of a life time. Sometimes that doesn’t work out and you have to go your separate ways, but to treat each other with such cruelty completely baffles me.

My ex found a boyfriend before the marriage was over. Of course I was angry. But then I realized she was not doing to hurt me, but to try to find some happiness, the happiness she could not find within our marriage. Once I understood she was doing what she need to do to make herself happy, I was able to let go of the anger.

The best thing for us, and much more importantly our kids, was to be friendly and civil during this process. Anything else would lead down an ugly path.

I am sorry if you are going through through a divorce, it sucks. Try not to feel guilty for doing what it takes to take care of yourself. Self preservation is vital.

Enter and go through the process with compassion and understanding. Nobody expects to get divorced, no one wants to hurt the person they once held so dear, no matter how things look on the surface.

Doug

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