I worked to support both, our home in Orlando and help support my wife in Gainesville,, seeing her only on an occasional weekend or for Spring Break. This experience, while difficult, helped prove to me that I was capable of being self-sufficient as I had never been on my own before. In 1999, Aracelis finished her degree program and returned to Orlando to work for Disney's Animal Kingdom as a 'keeper' and trainer for the Pocahontas stage show, "Colors of the Wind, " and later Disney's Wilderness Adventures.

1999 was also the year that my father, who had been experiencing numerous health issues from a lifetime of smoking, was diagnosed with both, lung cancer and emphysema. A year later my father had to be put on life support and our family was brought together to make the decision as to what had to be done next. After consulting with the doctors, the Hospice and each other, our family made the difficult decision to remove our father from life support. 36 hours later, my dad was dead.

The next several years were extremely difficult for me, as my parents were about to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary when my father passed. My mother had been very ill also at the time, and I didn't take this very well at all.

To escape from this pain, I found relief playing an online computer role-playing game called "Everquest," and over the next few years, I immersed myself in this fantasy gaming environment as much as possible to drown out the thoughts of my father's passing and the family's sadness which ensued. As I did so, I gained over 30 pounds and my business and relationship with my wife crumbed around him.

It was a chance conversation with one of my online friends, whose own life was equally as devastated, that I told him all the reasons that he needed to quit the game. It was later that night when I realized, that I was really talking about myself. I vowed then and there to get my life back on track and began an intense period of introspection and healing.

In 2001, I found Liz Woolley, a woman whose son had committed suicide while playing Everquest and who, as a result, founded an organization called On-Line Gamer's Anonymous (OLGA), designed to help gamers and their families recover from the problems caused by online gaming addiction. I helped Woolley establish an online message board in 2002 and continue to serve as a forum administrator and OLGA representative to this day. While I no longer consider myself "addicted" to online games, I attribute my return to 'wholeness' to continued review and evaluation of my life and the support I have gotten from Woolley and the other members I 'converse' with daily in the OLGA message forums.

It was in 2002 on a trip through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park when I first discovered the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail and realized that not only would this be the pinnacle of achievements in my life to walk its entire length, it would also be a reconnection to the outdoor life I experienced and thrived on in my youth. It was the day after returning from this trip having made the decision to do this hike that I turned the page of my desktop calendar to reveal the quote: "To learn to see, to learn to hear, you must do this- go into the wilderness alone." I picked spring of 2006 as my starting date.

Over the next several years, I read everything I could find on the Appalachian Trail and learned the skills of hiking, backpacking and camping. I prepared mentally for what was up ahead, realizing that only about 20% or so of those who attempted the entire hike actually completed it in a given year. In 2005, after discussing the trip at length with my wife, I began to announce to my friends and clients that I was going to do it. I also decided at that time, that I was going to give up my computer business and start over career-wise when I returned. I was not and am still not sure what I will be doing when I return, but have faith that I will know by the time I complete my journey.

I am scheduled to begin my journey on March 24, 2006 and estimate that I will summit Mt. Kathadin in Maine on or around September 15, 2006.

Aracelis and I have no children, but we do have 3 parrots, 3 cats and 2 leopard geckos. We live in an old frame house built in 1918 on the east side of downtown Orlando, which we've owned together since 1990.

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