It’s your choice

“There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear…”

Buffalo Springfield said it best in “For What it’s Worth” in 1966.

And that is just what’s happening here in my book, Hold Your Breath…Breathe.

I was influenced by my distant cousin, Pete Gent, who wrote The North Dallas Forty in the sixties and told me to, “Just write what you know.”

So many choices, so many decisions to make.

As a 17 year old graduating high school in 1967, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was headed. I wasn’t ready for college just yet, and my only other option was to go to Vietnam.

Failing my physical exam due to an eye disease called keratoconus, I decided to move from a small farm town to the big city of Dallas and see if I could get work there.

After many failed attempts at getting a job, I stumbled into working at Baylor Medical Hospital of Dallas and eventually enrolled in X-ray school.

It was the first life choice I had ever made without consulting my parents.

As it turns out, it was the right one.

Fast forward to 1979.

My hospital experience prepared me for having a son with cystic fibrosis. I was able to explain treatments, medications, the ways of the hospital, the doctors, the nurses, the techs, and all the people who make up the medical field to my son and my family.

Choices had to be made in order to keep my son alive.

In order to have the same schedule as my family, I decided to become a coach and a teacher. More decisions.

I started my journey at Baylor in 1967 at the age of 17.

My son passed away at Baylor in 2008 at the age of 29 after a hard-fought battle.

It’s like things came full circle. Life sure is a ride.

The choice I made at 17 years old changed my life forever, and I am grateful for it. It’s made me the man I am today.

Choices. Decisions. No one is exempt, and everyone is tested. It is all how we choose to, well, choose!

You can read all about the impact of choices in my book, Hold Your Breath…Breathe, and the rest of the Gent Library at Swamp Productions on Facebook.