Today is the first day. I’ll need your help.

I attended the funeral yesterday for a kid – actually a 32 year old man and the brother of an old friend – I had the pleasure to know for over 13 years. Ben died in his sleep – peacefully, one would hope – of a previously undiagnosed heart condition. The same heart condition my own uncle died of 22 years ago, and while his was diagnosed and he was on the “list” for a heart transplant, Uncle Charlie died too young. He still had a lot to give, to do, to accomplish.

They both did.

Yesterday was a wake up call for me. Sitting in the chapel in Dayton, early afternoon sunlight streaming through the old stained glass windows, I reflected on how much I don’t want my wife and daughter to have to go through what my friend and her family are going through. Seeing the coffin, knowing one of my peers was inside it, the moment was surreal – I was rattled.

Since leaving Whole Foods and working with the brewery, I’ve become less active while losing focus on what I eat. I’m back to where I was before I started working for Whole Foods, and I’m not a fan. I love my job, my teammates, our product, the brand & culture we are building from the ground up. I don’t love that I have a hard time saying no to tasty meals at my many wonderful accounts across this great state.

That’s where you come in. Let’s help each other be better and live as examples for our kids, for our peers. I’ll call or text to see if you want to join Harper and I at the playground or basketball court, or if you want to come on a walk with us. I hope you’ll call or text me, too, to invite me/us to an activity that promotes movement/strength/sweating.

I woke up this morning, dropped to the floor, and did some sets of push-ups, crunches, leg-raises, and stretches – all while my little girl was still asleep in the bed above me. I did them for her. And I’ll do them again tomorrow.

But today is the first day.