We wish all of you a Happy New Year, and some words from Josey to start the New Year on a positive note – HLA

I stood there surrounded by trees and felt as though I belonged there, more than when surrounded by the world outside these woods. I had my dad’s hunting knife in a leather sheath attached to my belt. Somehow while walking through the woods to our home, the knife fell out of the sheath. I searched the ground for hours but never found the knife. I stood in front of my dad and told him what happened. He said with little expression, “it’s ok”. I can still remember that spot in the woods and that feeling I felt. I can still remember my dad providing me with another gift. The one of understanding.

As my boot sizes got bigger, I have always been drawn back to that spot in the woods. At that time, I was clueless to the world out there. I was clueless to the influence of man. I was clueless to pain but the trees guided me to the navigation my soul would need as my boot sizes changed.

I stood in the garage and put on my clean boots and left my not-so-clean boots behind. As I walked up to the ticket counter, my clean boots felt very new to my feet. I sat there waiting for my plane to board and questioned my need to leave the trees behind. The space in my head was good. I was in a good place, so why would I come out here to a world influenced by man. A world that seems to take more than it gives. A world that I can navigate in, but most of the time I choose not to.

I flew in a plane all day. I tried my best to smile, embrace others, and to be a man of gratitude but it was hard. The eye contact between the people I saw was very limited. The manners of others were diminished. The influence of man was present with every step I took. I finally reached my destination and in the solitude of my hotel room I closed my eyes and thought about that spot in the woods. I asked the trees to guide me even though I was surrounded by the influence of man.

I woke in that same hotel room and realized I made a choice, and the only way to navigate was to put one foot in front of another. When I walked into the classroom, an old friend I call “The Holy Man” smiled. He already knew his friend was lost. There is much comfort in knowing when others accept and understand the people we are. The Holy Man whispered in my ear, “be you”. Easier said than done, because at that moment it felt like I wasn’t sure who I was or why I was there. The room we were in was full of first responders. Our job over the next five days was to introduce them to a toolbox full of mechanisms to help them navigate in a world influenced by man. To somehow help them cleanse their senses, so they can remain strong as their boots guide them along their path. To somehow help them find their own spot in the woods.

A man stood before the group and introduced himself. The man was new to me, but I had been told his story. During his path to serve his country he had lost his legs. His stance was not solid, but his soul was. Mankind provided him with legs, but he did not need manufactured legs to be strong. I found myself looking down at his legs and feet, and then I just looked up. I realized I was focusing on what was not there, and my focus needed to be what was there. As he spoke his words filtered through my soul. Then he said something that I heard but also felt deep inside me. He said to the group, “I always thought I would be buried at Arlington, but I guess that was not the plan. When I lost my legs, I realized I just had another mountain to climb”. I sat there, mesmerized by his words, and I could relate with a level of passion and purpose that would have a man internalize that his mission would be completed at Arlington. This man with no legs was now in my mind The Woodsman. I remember that thought many years ago, when I left the spot on my parent’s farm and my boots navigated me into the world influenced by man. I did not call it Arlington but that’s how the mission would be completed.

The days went by fast, and soon, without hesitation, the whispered words from the Holy Man were the bark that others could see and feel. I was me. Though I was miles from that spot in the woods I could feel it. I watched The Woodsman for days. Every day he climbed that mountain despite the pain I could see on his face. He stood tall and strong, and even though he could still taste Arlington, he continued to climb that new mountain.

As I walked up to the ticket counter, my clean boots felt better on my feet. I looked up, and in the far distance I saw men holding flags and a mom and a son surrounded by the men. Then I heard the words it was a gold star family. I stood there hesitating, and the whispered words from The Holy Man entered my soul, “be you.” I walked up to the mom and introduced myself and asked if I could give her son something. She said, “Sure”. I handed the young boy a USMC keychain I had shot a hole through and said, “It may not mean much now, but one day it will.”

I slept hard on the plane until I landed at my layover. As I navigated through the crowds my boots continued to feel better on my feet. As I walked down the long corridor to my gate I looked up and saw a group of people in a circle. The closer I got; I could hear two women talking to each other. Then I saw what the circle and the conversation was about. The two women were performing CPR on another woman. The two women were completely in synch. I was amazed at the calmness and calculation in their voices. At the end of the corridor, I could see the airport first responders on their way. As if the sun blasted through the roof and shined down on that group of people, one of the women said, “we got her back.” I stood there mesmerized and motionless. I hesitated and again I heard the whispered words of The Holy Man. I walked up to the women and thanked them and told them how amazing it was to witness that.

I’m back now in my trees. I climbed a tree before daylight today to embrace the morning. In theory I am bow hunting for deer but honestly that’s the farthest thing from my mind. I’ve spent the last few hours typing this story to you. Tomorrow will be exactly four years since I retired. I realized now my Arlington was not part of the plan just like The Woodsman. I’m also on my second mountain and I spend most of my days here in the woods. I’m blessed to have found many spots that give me that feeling I felt on my parent’s farm. I look down and I’m wearing my not so clean boots. They feel really good on my feet and the clean ones are still getting there. I’m also blessed to be able to return to that spot on my parents’ farm where this story began. I have learned as my boot sizes have gotten larger, that when we navigate through the world influenced by man, it’s much brighter if we look up at what is there. If we spend our lives looking down for the knife that is gone, the legs that are gone, the dad who is gone, and our boots as we navigate through the airport, we fail to see the sun busting down through the ceiling of life casting its hope of that tree that stands alone.