Turning Tragedy to Purpose

What are these Broken Wing Adventures??

 

Why have a goofy name like that??

 

Well.... it's who we are! It's what we do! Here's our story (and it's a pretty cool one)...

 

He was an Army helicopter pilot.

She was a personal trainer/business owner.

 

You can read the incredible story behind how we got together on our blog, but on this page we'll keep it short.

 

We met, fell in love, got married, and had a houseful of babies. (Yet another REALLY cool story about how that happened on our blog)!

 

But all this happened AFTER he fell from high in the sky and crashed to the ground at an estimated 15G (aka really really hard)! He shattered his vertebrae. His life was forever changed. He tried to continue working, but his pain was too severe and functionality too limited. After nearly 22 years of service to our country, he had to retire. He felt like he lost his identity. Military pilot was who he was. He was devastated. 

 

She had to shut down her business to care for him. All her dreams... out the window. While it was what she ultimately wanted to do because of her love for him, she felt like she lost her identity. She was devastated.

 

Fast forward.... miracle babies came along. (Again...

AMAZING story about that on the blog)!

 

She began working from home making a good living and regaining her identity! 

 

He got involved in a new program through the VA that helped him accomplish his goal of getting off daily narcotics so he could be more present in his own life and the life of his wife and kids. (We'll expand on that life-changing program soon)!

 

Everything was going so much better. Well... almost everything.

 

See... he was 36-years-old when his life was changed. He went from being a very independent, physically and mentally tough (hit his PR bench press max the day of his crash), career-driven guy, to having to stay home nearly every day, having days where he needed full care by his wife, being distanced from most of his friends because of the lifestyle changes, and more. It was hard. Mentally he felt like he was in a hamster wheel. He struggled to find identity and purpose. But we noticed when we got out on little adventures, he was a whole different person. 

 

We prayed for guidance on how to make life what God wanted us to make it and how to discover his purpose.

 

And thus enter Broken Wing Adventures!

In 2016 we stuck our necks out financially to purchase an RV, pulled our kids from their part-time early learning center (which we loved and swore we would never pull them from), and hit the road.

 

Because of the tremendous impact it had on our family, in 2019 we sold our house and most of our belongings, and we began traveling full-time, educating our now school-aged children out in the world.

 

And the rest is history! Well, not exactly. The rest is a collection of adventures. Some are incredible. Some are weird. But all make us who we are. 

 

So thank you for joining us on our Broken Wing Adventures! We hope you find them entertaining, enlightening, and even inspirational at times. And maybe someday we will meet you out on an adventure!
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