Tomorrow -- Sunday, July 30, 2017 -- I celebrate 21 years as a heart attack survivor.
I was very fortunate. I got sick on a Friday evening, had my illness misdiagnosed, and suffered in pain and nausea for three full days before I was told to head to the hospital on Tuesday morning, and had my life saved. During my three-month disability period, I started my freelance writing career, and my assignments back then were op-eds for a local community newspaper, and chapbook reviews for a poetry journals. My 21-year career has seen publication of over 1,000 articles, publication in local, state, regional, and national magazines, a good number of copywriting assignments, ghostwriting article and book chapters, teaching writing workshops, and being a guest a few times on television and radio shows. As gratifying as that all is, what's most important in retrospect is this. If I hadn't survived those four days back in 1996, my then 5-yearold daughter, Stefanie, would've started her school years minus a Dad, and my wife of almost 9 years, Lucille, would've been a widow. Both of their lives would've changed from one day to the next. But, that didn't happen. I'm still here, age 55 instead of age 34, and soon to be married 30 years. During the past 21 years my faith has never failed me; I've failed it when taking it for granted. The same with my health, the same with my writing and, yes, likewise with my family. I've also, during this period, seen good friends die of heart attacks and heart failure. Still, all of that said, here I am. Tonight, I'll attend Mass with my family, and tonight or tomorrow we'll dine out and celebrate like we do every July. I'm thinking that, when sitting there with my wife and daughter, I'll look at both - really look - and take in their beauty, and listen - really listen - to what they say. Every word XO. Steve
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Steve Sears is a New Jersey based freelance writer
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