I’m Bill:
I grew up in Northwest Indiana in a small town just off the southern tip of Lake Michigan. My family was small, and we lived a small-town life; simple, hardworking, and church-going––every week––sometimes multiple times a week. Faith and spirituality have always anchored my life in the Divine.
I had a great childhood that grew into a great adulthood. Some would say I was blessed. I often think I was just lucky because I did nothing to earn any form of a blessing that became my life. But life didn’t stay that way. It never does, does it? The darkness eventually found me and wreaked havoc in my life in the form of a rare, incurable cancer diagnosis. That didn’t feel like much of a blessing. But I’ve learned that God does things a lot different than I would. And he wastes nothing.
So far, this cancer hasn’t killed me, which means I’m getting bonus years. And I’m not wasting them. I’m grateful for what I’ve discovered about living after feeling like I cheated dying. Don’t get me wrong, cancer sucks. But once I accepted it for what it is in my life, my mind and soul opened to what this journey could teach me. So I became a student of life after cancer. It’s a school I never wanted to attend, but I chose to sit in the front row.
As I pursued better ways to live, I had conversations with others about what I was learning. And I began to write. I’ve always been fascinated by the creative process; how there was nothing, then through focused effort, something arises, comes into existence. Friends encouraged me to share my thoughts on a wider scale. That became a book. If you are inclined to read it, I hope you might find inspiration to reflect on your life, maybe shift some thoughts, make a few new choices, and discover how you can live with more joy, more peace and create a hopeful future, even if it feels like life isn’t going as you planned.
The Simple Facts:
I’m an attorney, writer, and speaker. I earned a Business Administration degree from Taylor University and a Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law. I’ve been in private law practice for 30 years and serve as a part-time Public Defender.
I live an active lifestyle that includes fitness and exercise, skiing, bicycling, golf, and travel. And recently, I’ve taken up Pickleball. I’m still trying to figure out why it’s named after a vegetable. I enjoy reading, wine (particularly Napa Valley reds), a game called Kubb, watching baseball and hockey, and slow, easy, weekend mornings, sipping lattes with my wife, Jane.
Jane and I have two adult sons, Erik and Adam, and a grand dog named Covi.
The Nitty Gritty:
I still want to…
- Attend the Division I College World Series
- Visit all the National Parks
- Travel to Sweden (the place of my family origin)
- Attend the Winter Olympics
- See the Northern Lights.
Favorite…
- Book: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
- Bands: U2, Coldplay and The Rocketboys.
- Album: Joshua Tree by U2
- TV Series: Breaking Bad
- Podcast: The RobCast by Rob Bell
- Sport: Baseball
- Teams: Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks
- Movies: Top Gun and About Time
- Quote: “Deeper than our instinct to live, is our longing to be alive.” (Erwin McManus)