There are moments in time – momentous and monumental events – that shape us.
Looking back over my life I can pick out some of my own moments.
Alone in the darkness under an oxygen tent. The machines wheeze and beep in the fight to keep me alive. I listen to the sound of my mothers heels clicking away into the distance as she leaves for the night. I am too young for words, but something changes in my heart.
Standing in the kitchen of our old farm house for the last time. Feeling time stand still as the tempest of another fight rages like a hurricane around me. I stand calmly in the eye of the storm watching mutely as my life is utterly and finally destroyed. I am old enough for words now. A line is writ and sealed upon my heart.
The first time that someone stands up for me on the schoolyard. Its a small thing, one might think. Just another kid who was raised not to tolerate bullies. Nothing really – and yet it was everything to me. Another silent vow is writ upon my heart.
Sick, hopeless, and tired of living I stand alone looking up at the night sky. A comet streaks across the heavens, and I think “why not?” I make an outlandish wish. The wish turns into a prayer. The prayer becomes a vow.
There are more, but these moments shine most brightly. They glitter like diamonds in the shifting sands of time. In them I find a brief glimpse of clarity. They are among the most important moments – the ones that shaped who I would become. They are as seals upon my heart – they stand unbroken.
Stay Wild!
The Wild 
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