Monthly Archives: April 2013

Holly Franklin: Podcasting One-Handed EP2

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Episode 2 is live!

In this episode we hear from Holly Franklin.  Holly lost her hand when she was 29, so her experience is quite different than my own.  Even so, we have many similarities, including a reliance on humor to get us through!  Also, she has an Australian accent, so…there’s that.  We have a great conversation about her story, prosthetics, how she deals with people who stare and her incredible invention, the 1-Up hair tie!

Holly’s been gracious enough to donate THREE 1-Up hair ties for POH listeners!  How cool is that??  Enter below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, here the link to the piece I wrote about my grandpa that I mention in this episode: Heaven Gained A Hero.

Lastly, dont forget to send me a question for Ask Ryan!  It can be about anything.  I’ll try not to ridicule you like I did Brandon T.  No guarantees, though.

Hope you enjoyed the episode!  If so, I’d love if you left a review on iTunes and a comment below!

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Keep Those Plates Spinning

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The conversation started the same as it always does: me complaining about my lack of self-discipline.

I’m still not eating well.  I haven’t yet started running again.  My writing isn’t where I want it to be.  I’m still not focusing completely on the kids when I’m with them.  On and on and on…the same things, over and over.  There’s no question that my desires are good. Becoming a better person is a noble pursuit, right?  Anybody who’s tried, though, knows it’s not easy.  Steven Pressfield talks about how we experience Resistance when we try to better ourselves in his book The War of Art (must read).  I think he’s right.

My friend and I had spoken about focus in previous conversations.  Instead of trying to improve everything incrementally and spreading myself thin, why not try focusing on one or two areas for a specified amount of time?  This time, as he spoke about focusing on just one area and “maintaining” the others, I started to sweat.  And I sighed a lot. Continue reading →

Heaven Gained A Hero

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Heaven is a much funnier place today.

My grandpa, Edwin Haack, age 93, passed away this morning surrounded by his loving family; one that knows how to love because he showed them how to do it well.

I’m using this space to share three things today: A little bit about who my grandpa was, a couple of my favorite memories and the experience of having him pass through hospice.  It might be a little raw, so thank you for your understanding.

Grandpa was born in November of 1919, one five children; three boys and two girls.  He grew-up in the Madison area and even attended Madison East High School.  On New Year’s Day in 1942 he married my grandma, June, and they’d go on to have ten children.  TEN.  My daughter Anna’s middle name is June, after my grandmother, actually.  Shortly after they were married, grandpa 522428_10152689632555603_569833583_nwas drafted by the United States Army and ended-up serving nearly for four years with extensive time spent in New Guinea and the Philippines during WWII.  He was promoted to Staff Sargent status within the 32nd Infantry Division, 127th Regiment.  The 32nd Infantry Division, the Red Arrow Division, was credited with many “firsts” and logged a total of 654 days of combat during World War II, more than any other United States Army division.  While in Leyte (Philippines), grandpa suffered a serious wound to his right leg and was awarded the Purple Heart (more on this later).  When he got back home, he finally met his first child, Bonnie.  She was nearly three when he met her for the first time.

Continue reading →