Lessons From A Life of Laughter and Pain
Let there be light
“Look at me. Why are we doing this? What do you need? Do you need to take a walk?”
He asked her with conviction, empathy, and strength. I stared awkwardly at them both.
They were sitting side by side. I was across from them at an annoyingly small table, next to my co-worker.
Silence.
“A walk,” she whispered.
Last Thursday and Friday, I sat in a small room and listened to two people pour out their lives. There was laughter, tears, joy, overwhelm, and life-lesson bombs galore. In the end, I helped them unpack who they are and how they overcame life’s hardships to share with the world.
They’re a hilarious couple from New Jersey who raised a disabled son for 22 years—a son who wasn’t supposed to live more than three years.
It was hell. Hospitals, nurses, feeding tubes, pulse monitors, surgeries, expenses, uncertainty, insanity, heartbreak.
But also—love, laughter, purpose, passion, adventure, kindness.
Somehow, someway, they stayed married. Somehow, someway, they took him to Disney World over 15 times. Somehow, someway, they took him to the beach falling over the wheelchair and trying to keep his breathing tube above the water in the waves. They even duct-taped him to a sled so he could “play hockey” for a day—even though he couldn’t hold the stick.
And here I am… thinking my biggest responsibilities are keeping a dog alive and making sure my girlfriend doesn’t murder me when I forget to communicate properly.
Life.
When I sit in these rooms with fascinating people, helping them uncover who they are and what they’re here to say, it always blows my mind.
“What feels overwhelming?” I asked the mother halfway through the first day, after she stepped out for a walk, to take a breath.
“This is becoming real,” she said, staring at the wall covered in Post-it notes—stories, lessons, memories. “Our story. Our lessons.”
“Yes,” I told her. “And it will change people’s lives.”
They’re in their 50s, learning to live a new life without their son. A life where they have to rediscover purpose, joy, and adventure. To find a new mission.
The kind of couple who finish each other’s sentences and high-five like teammates. The type of love everyone on Earth wishes they had.
“It’s just… we have impostor syndrome. Why would anyone want to listen to us?” she asked, eyes wide with doubt.
It’s scary. For all of us. Putting ourselves out there. Sharing our stories. Being vulnerable.
Life.
I walked away from our time together with three unforgettable truths:
As they put it best: The only ones who are truly disabled are those who don’t laugh.
As they communicated with each other: listen with your eyes, hear with your heart.
As they found a way to survive: Life is easier with a partner by your side.
What a wonderful life it is…
—Trey
PS: If you want to see who we help people uncover their stories and change the world…this book tells the story. You can grab the audiobook version free until 6/30 and the hard copy publishes on July 1st.
https://wealthyandwellknown.com/audiobook-rpp/?affiliate_code=183017
P.S. I got a terrible haircut yesterday