“We showed up.We stood up.We stepped forward.We raised our right hands.We mailed our letters home.We shuffled, then stood in the door.We jumped.We walked through the fire.We did not dodge.We did not evade.... We did not run.We did not hide.We did not leave a friend behind.Consequently…We have nothing to prove.We have no stories to tell.We have no one to convince.Those who matter, already know.Those who don't, never will.We few.We Band of Brothers.We Moatengators...”

“Each of our lives’ is a separate and precious journey. No matter how happy, sad, painful, tragic or confusing it may by, it is unique and beautiful. No matter if we hurt others or if we ourselves were hurt, it happened and it is part of our story. If we think we can have complete control over this journey, our journey will wake us up… usually with a very unpleasant surprise.More than genetics, money or education, it is our journey who defines who we are. It defines what kind of person you are. Not the experiences you encountered nor the happy or traumatic events you may have endured. But rather how we dealt with those events and how we continue to deal with those events; when we evaluate ourselves and how we treat others. Your journey is part of your story. But it is not the complete story of who and how you are. You are a soul, a spirit, who has traveled through this life and along the way; you learned and gathered bits and pieces from here and there. And you, yourself, have woven together a soul, a spirit. And that is who you are today. You define… you.Oh, and just in case you thought your journey, your story was over… surprise, its not. So keep weaving. You are not finished yet. It is never to late to define who you are.”

“Some of us lived different lives, during a different time, in a different universe. We did it on this planet, though. You may have been watching Miami Vice or something else on TV at the time, so you didn't notice what was happening. You would not recognize us among you. We look, walk and talk the same and we can tell funny jokes. But we are different and will never be the same again.”

“Over the past 8 years, I have stripped my life down. I don’t need as much as I thought I did. It was hard at first to make that change. I had to have faith and patience. And so, I did. Now, I have God and great people in my life. Everything else just seems to follow. Sometimes we don’t understand about the need to live more simply. We can make appointments all day long, 7 days a week. We can even schedule and plan for our deaths. I was fortunate to be freed to really be myself again, while there is still time and something left of me. And now, up here, there’s nothing but me (and Kilo) and the sky and a million billion stars. And once again, I am free to dream...”

“It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck thinking we've reached our limitations in life. If we go into a dark room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or a hundred years - we turn on the light and it is bright again. Once we control our own capacity for love and happiness, we can turn that light back on.”

“Sometimes, we just have to be our own hero!”

“Our doubts can be traitors that make us lose out on all the goodness we are capable of having in our lives, by fearing to take chances, risks, by not having faith or trust. A wish or a dream is a good place to start, but eventually we have to get up off our behinds and make "it" happen. Take some risks. Stop being afraid. Pick up a pen and write your own story. It could be magnificient!”