“There’s been an accident” … I heard my Grandpa tell my Grandma
They rushed to the hospital.
It was 6am.
I was dropped off at an acquaintances house that I didn’t really know.
I was 5 and the only thing I remember is this football shaped toy box that had tons of toys I was excited to play with.
At that age, I had no consideration of how my life had just changed in an instant. How my ENTIRE family’s lives were all going to change…
It was my father…
He was heading to Fort Knox in his convertible 1980 stingray corvette during a storm.
His girlfriend was driving when someone pulled out in front of them…
She swerved, and they ended up hitting a tree.
He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt…
They found his body over 10ft from the car.
His girlfriend fled the scene. And was nowhere to be found.
The car was totaled.
My grandparents went to the hospital.
My father… unrecognizable.
Doctors said that he won’t make it through the night.
He did.
They did an operation to save his life where they removed 1/3 of his brain and replaced it with a metal plate.
They said he wouldn’t survive the surgery.
He did.
He went into a coma.
They said he would never wake up…
He did.
He was now blind, couldn’t walk on his own, couldn’t feed himself, couldn’t go to the bathroom, or bathe himself and had very little short term memory.
It was like everything was put on pause for him. He only remembered things before the crash.
As I got older and my voice changed, he would call me Arkley which was the last name of his best friend in the army.
I guess I sounded like him.
My grandparents had to now take care of him AND me…
When I reflect on this I see now what a tremendous undertaking. It was.
They hired my aunt to help feed and bathe my dad in the mornings, and then they hired someone to come and work with his memory and motor skills throughout the day.
I remember tossing a big foam ball to my dad, and being excited when he caught it and was able to throw it back to me. It was my way of trying to help him too.
Every other week, they would take my dad to the Bosma Center in Indianapolis 1.5 hrs away for 3 days to assess and work with him. It was a place that specifically worked with blind people.
I would go sometimes and we’d stay with my aunt who lived in Indy.
Ironically, in my forties I became friends with the son of the couple who created the Bosma Center. Randomly, he was introduced to me by another friend who thought I could help him with his business.
We still meet every few months to talk business together. It was a very Matrixy moment lol. What were the odds of that?
I never really knew my dad.
I have a handful of memories of him before the accident.
My grandparents, aunts, uncles and my dad’s friends would tell me tales of his adventures in life and I had a couple photo albums of him in the army.
He was a Marine first, and then joined the army. He was a tank commander on the border of N and S Korea. In the photos I saw of him I could tell he loved serving his country.
He was always smiling in those pictures. Freedom was important to him. He LOVED his career.
After the accident, he still held high spirits. He would smile and laugh. (Especially at the fart noises I’d make)
Despite this tragedy?
I had an amazing childhood. My grandparents made it work. They never complained about their situation.
There really never was a moment where I truly felt like I missed out on not having a traditional mother and father.
Sure, I missed my mom, and wondered what it would be like if my dad didn’t have the accident.
Those were passing thoughts and I never dwelled on it.
I strongly believe that these type of tragedies should not define you. You play the hand you are dealt the best you possibly can.
My grandparents love, determination and resilience is what helped me become who I am today.
Watching my father’s will to keep living despite the accident anchored resilience into my life.
What is Resilience?
It is the capacity to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity, stress, disruption, or change—whether physical, mental, emotional, or systemic—while maintaining core function or even emerging stronger.
It's one of my core values. What is one of yours?
We talked about resilience as it pertains to your health last month.
It’s equally as important when it comes to your mindset as well.
Life is full of surprises, good and bad. It’s how you act AND react to those situations that builds resilience.
You can’t control the unpredictable. You can control your response.
As a father, this is a core belief I want my sons to remember about me. I work hard to lead by example in my personal life and business life.
Speaking of resilience…
I feel that this is worth talking about:
On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed more than 250,000 enslaved people that they were free under the Emancipation Proclamation.
This day, now known as Juneteenth, marks the moment when the last enslaved people in the United States learned of their freedom.
It is a day to remember a significant chapter in American history and to reflect on the value of liberty and the resilience of those who sought it.
That being said, please don’t make this a political post. It’s not. It’s simply about freedom. We are apolitical at Lifeboost. We have all types of races and religions working here. Also, different political ideologies.
In a workplace, it's important to find common ground and agree on our core values. Clean, Cause, Connection, and Kindness. We celebrate our military, our freedom, and that people be treated equally. I don’t see anything political about that.
It’s important to me to look past politics and see what everyone ACTUALLY wants…
To feel safe and not in danger, to have financial security so they don’t have to struggle day to day, to feel loved and have the freedom to pursue their dreams.
And that brings me to our next topic:
Last month, we covered our first core pillar of Lifeboost.
CLEAN
Today, we’ll cover CAUSE.
We believe that as a company it’s important to 1: Bring value to the world through what you do. 2: Always take care of your customers 3: Give back by supporting causes you believe in.
Here’s what we’re currently doing…
We’ve built 2 schools in Nicaragua for the children of the coffee farmers. Where these coffee farms are located, there are no schools. We joined with Project Alianza and helped build 2 of them.
Now we focus on education for the women and children of those coffee farms.
We are sponsors of the Rain Forest Trust - which is an organization focused on protecting tropical and subtropical natural areas to conserve threatened species, and stop deforestation.
We adopted a Tiger in Indonesia
We adopted a Giraffe (ironically named coffee bean) in Uganda
We give thousands of pounds of coffee every year to first responders, teachers, military, and food shelters
We donate to hundreds of charities that come to us and ask us for coffee for fund raisers and auctions. (Many customers have asked, which we love)
We have started to plant trees. Currently, we’re at 458. We’re working on planting a tree for every coffee order. Still need to work through the logistics and cost to fully roll out the program.
We are also working on becoming Rainforest Alliance Certified - which means the beans were produced on farms that meet rigorous, independently audited standards for protecting forests and biodiversity, using climate-smart and regenerative practices (such as shade trees and reduced chemical use), ensuring fair treatment and improved livelihoods for farmers and workers.
Hopefully I didn’t forget anything. Our hearts are in the right place, I promise. Definitely more to come :-)
What’s going on at Lifeboost:
Three other team members and I went to a holiday event for grocery stores last week.
The only way I can describe it… you walk into a giant room of 900 companies that give away tons of samples.
It was literally like walking into Costco on sample day except the samples were pretty much unlimited and bigger lol.
It was all food and beverage companies who are introducing their products to the buyers for grocery stores across the US.
Here is a picture of us at our booth:
