Stories
Updates For You
Well, it’s definitely been a while since I have written a story. In fact, the last story I posted was on my birthday in April. I decided it was time to catch everyone up on what’s been going on.
I would like to start by letting you know that the final knee replacement surgery went very well, and the recovery is going fine, but slow. This has been a difficult process to go through, but like so many other things in life it has been a learning experience. I was very bitter about having to have the second and third surgery due to the infection, but I also realize that there are so many other people going through much harder dilemmas. I understand the difficulties with my knee will get better, while others are not as fortunate with their circumstances. I want to thank everyone who kept me in their thoughts and prayers, and for reaching out to let me know they wanted to help in any way.
The Crusade Against Cancer was another huge success this year. I came as Star Lord of course, and Kristi came as Mrs. Incredible. Which is quite fitting because she IS quite Incredible. We had five families that were nominated by the local High Schools, and we had the students give the checks to them at the event. This is the best part of the event, and we are so lucky to have so many amazing young adults in our community. I know they will be tremendous leaders of tomorrow. I was particularly honored when the students from Bonneville High School asked me if I would be in a group picture with them.
We started our Fourth of July celebration by taking my sister Patty to the Stadium of Fire at LaVell Edwards Stadium on July 1st to see Journey. I really enjoyed the way they started the event with a fly over by F35 jets from Hill Air Force base. I will admit I was a little concerned about how Journey would sound without their legendary singer Steve Perry, but his replacement Arnel Pineda did a great job. They finished the show with a magnificent display of Fireworks. Kristi and I were so glad we were able to enjoy this remarkable show with Patty. She is a great sister and friend, and I am so grateful to have her in my life. (Don’t tell her I said this. It will ruin my brother street cred!)
My biggest news is I have started my new job as the Dealer Development Manager for the North American Equipment Dealers Association. I will be working with the Agriculture, Construction, and Outdoor Power Equipment dealers in the Pacific and Far West regions of the country. I am so excited to get back to working with the dealers. I enjoy helping them find solutions and answers to there problems and issues. I have already connected with some of the dealers, and they are looking forward to working with me. I am very excited about this opportunity!
I will end this story by thanking all of you for your friendship and support. I am so lucky to have such great friends and want everyone to know how much I appreciate you. I am especially thankful for Kristi and all the love and support she gives to me. I am extremely blessed to have her in my life.
P.S. I am going to start writing these stories on a more frequent basis. You have been warned!
Posted by swilker on April 22, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Happy Birthday 2023 Today is my birthday, and I turn 67 years old. Now to some of you and the teenage version on me, that seems pretty old. But I will address that by relaying the words of a t-shirt Shannon bought me when I turned fifty. “Getting old is inevitable, maturing is optional!” I am happy to say I have used this as my motto, and plan to keep it until getting old is no longer evitable. How about a few Dad Jokes as my present to you? I only know 25 letters of the alphabet — I just don’t know y. RIP, boiling water. You will be...
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Posted by swilker on April 9, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Happy Easter 2023 Let me start this week’s story by giving you an update on the medical situation with my knee. Originally the date for surgery to replace the spacer with a new knee was scheduled for around the first of May. The infusion therapy to get rid of the infection went so well, the surgery happened on March 29th. Now, we are in the therapy process. I am so thankful to everyone for all your prayers. I have always enjoyed the Easter holiday. When I was a little kid, it was fun to go on Easter egg hunts at grade school. Of course, this...
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Posted by swilker on March 17, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2023 Let’s start this story off with some St. Patrick’s Day Jokes. Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day? Because regular rocks are too heavy! How do leprechaun’s get to the moon? They go on a sham-rocket! What do you call leprechauns who collect aluminum cans? Wee-Cyclers! Okay, that’s enough of that foolishness. Since St. Patrick’s Day is a sign of good luck and fortune, I would like to share a few examples of good fortune I have been lucky enough to receive. I will start by letting...
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Posted by swilker on February 18, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Medical Update I decided for this week’s story I would give you an update on the status of my knee replacement, whether you wanted to know or not. To do this, I must take you back to the beginning of my decision to have the surgery. For the last two years, I have been experiencing problems with my knees, especially after playing basketball. I went to see a doctor, and X-rays showed that the right knee had lost all of the cartilage and was basically bone against bone. We started doing cortisone shots which worked well for about nine months,...
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Posted by swilker on January 21, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Pink Night 2023 Last Friday night Thunder Ridge High School held their fifth annual Pink Night. This event was started by Thunder Ridge basketball coach Lee Toldson in honor of his aunt who battled and passed away from cancer. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for local families dealing with cancer and to raise cancer awareness. I would like to give you the background on how it all started. Michele Kennedy was the president of the Thunder Ridge booster club and had reached out to one of the local hospitals to get them to sponsor the...
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Posted by swilker on January 7, 2023 in Journal | 0 comments
Reflections of 2022 I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas and New Year’s celebration! It’s hard to believe we are in 2023 already. As I reflect back on 2022, there were some challenges that it brought, but also some incredible opportunities and inspirational events. For this week’s story, I would like to give you three events that helped me realize how lucky I am. Crusade Against Cancer This event continues to grow bigger each year. This year we had the largest number of participants we have ever had. We also had several new sponsors...
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Posted by swilker on December 11, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments
Christmas Adopt-A-Family 2022 Tomorrow is one of the days I look forward to every year. We are going to go Christmas shopping for families dealing with cancer. We started this tradition 5 years ago and it has grown immensely over the years. This year we are going to provide Christmas for over 10 families. This would not be possible without the overwhelming generosity of this amazing community. Teton Cancer Institute provided us with the shopping list for 6 families, and the rest were ones the Foundation helped earlier in the year, and I...
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Posted by swilker on December 4, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments
Another Rewarding Week This week we were able to enjoy an amazing experience due to the generosity of this amazing community. To give you the proper details of this experience, I will need to take you back a few years to when this tradition started. I had a booth at the Shilo convention center when a young lady from Texas Roadhouse came over and introduced herself to me. Her name was Bailey Thorne, and she was in charge of Marketing. She wanted to know more about the Foundation and what we did. I explained our mission and we had a really nice...
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Posted by swilker on November 27, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 I would like to start by sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Eating way more than I should. Take an afternoon nap. Wake up and find more food to eat. Root against the Dallas Cowboys. Over the last several years, I have been able to focus more on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. This year, I want to share some of the things I am most thankful for. I am thankful to live in such a wonderful community. I have witnessed so many selfless acts of kindness and compassion from individuals, groups, and...
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Posted by swilker on November 19, 2022 in Journal | 0 comments
Status Update This is my first story since the “Happy Birthday Jayci” story I posted on October 29th. The reason I have not posted a story is that I had complete knee replacement surgery on my right knee on Nov. 3rd. For this week’s story I would like to catch you up on some of the things that have happened since my last story. First I would like to thank all of the amazing people in our community that held fundraisers in the month of October for the Foundation. The number of people, groups, and businesses that hold these fundraisers seem to...
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