A Short Walk to the Beginning of the Rest of My Life!
A Disabled Firefighters Memoir
by
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It was a beautiful morning in mid-July of 1992. At the time, I had a private office on the first floor of city hall. A bank of windows faced the street where I always parked my fire chief staff car.
Suddenly, I was overcome with flu type symptoms. In an instant, I became weak and nauseas. Within seconds, I was lightheaded; the slightest movement of my head to the right or the left caused me to have the worst case of vertigo than I had ever experienced.
It literally took close to 20-minutes to shuffle my feet the 25-feet to reach my Fire Chief staff car!
At the same time, I had developed a terrible sinus headache; you know the type that feels as if someone is using two 12 lb. bowling balls to relentlessly pound away directly behind your eye sockets!
After lying there, for what seemed like hours, I got on my hands and knees and crawled the additional 25-feet to my front doorstep.
I continued my arduous crawl to my master bedroom. I pulled myself onto the bed and called my wife at her workplace.
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About the Book
Mark takes you on a journey, retracing his childhood, growing up on a farm in rural Idaho. Mark continues his journey, highlighting his 20-year fire service career, and the trials and tribulations he encountered along the way. Mark's story will bring a tear to your eye and a chuckle to your side, with his own brand of humor. Throughout the chapters, the reader will find inspiration and entertainment, with a little wisdom sprinkled in for good measure, with his "Mark's Lifes lessons".
About the Author
Mark is a 58 year old, retired, 20-year veteran firefighter, a published author and a 26-year semiprofessional musician (drummer, & back-up vocalist).
In July of 1992, two-weeks after his 40th birthday, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Mark remained working, as a Fire Chief/Building Official, confined to a manual wheelchair, until his disability retirement from the Oregon fire service on April 1, 1997.
Multiple sclerosis has rendered him completely paralyzed below the waist and left upper-torso. With use of only his right arm and hand, he spent 5-years typing his memoir, using his right middle finger, one keystroke at a time!