Its getting near time for the obligatory Led Zeppelin reference ...

Last year, it was a What is and what should never be. I look some liberal artistic license with the title, and altered its meaning. But the song itself is about thinking about a brighter future.

My family was just getting started down the path of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. My wife was diagnosed, and without explaining precisely why, the doctors urged us to move rapidly. I think we understand now, why they did. I worked hard to keep everyone’s spirits up, thinking of the future, in a positive sense. Its hard to be the only one moving forward, carrying everyone holding on to you, depending upon you to do this. But I bore that burden gladly. Maybe this is why a poem I used to think was corny, now resonates with me. Sorta like in grad school, where the end of the tunnel wasn’t visible, the beginning of the tunnel was a distant memory, and you were wondering exactly what mental failure on your part caused you to want to do this … You knew you had to keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep moving forward. You knew people depended upon you to do so. You knew failure, or bowing out, or begging for mercy, was not an option. I do prefer the way Heinlein stated this in starship troopers:

We had battles on multiple fronts … cancer, business, … and we couldn’t afford to lose any of them. Even if the odds were against us. Maybe this is why this years Led Zeppelin reference is “No Quarter”

This has been a trans-formative year for us, for the business, for me personally. We’ve learned many things, had many interesting experiences. Not all positive. But we all are going to learn from them, adapt, overcome obstacles, and do a better job with our family, our business, our customers.