Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Jim Brinkmann


Well Kid,


Here is a photo of me in the prime of my life when I was getting an award or diploma or the likes. When I was a student at West Point in the 70’s, I was diagnosed with cancer. Pretty bad stuff as you know. Mine was involved in the urinary tract. I miraculously went into remission after many treatments of chemo and radiation. However, I was told that remission in those days for my type of cancer was at best 7 years. Because of the locality of the radiation I was told I could never have children. I was a very physically active and mentally active individual. I was recruited for both academics and sports (football, wrestling and track [weight man stuff; shot, discuss, javelin, etc. If you ever want a fun time, go to a weight man’s relay. Ever see a 320 pound guy try to poll vault? Hillarious.]).


Well, the message I have is simple. You never know what life will bring you. I went into special forces and special operations in the us army because I didn’t see much future. After the Iran hostage rescue operation, I married the love of my life (who happened to be the daughter of one of the hostages). We now have two boys bigger than me (6’6” 320#). I am now almost 53 years old and find myself almost daily scratching my head trying to figure out how this happened. Chuckle… So keep smiling kid, be diligent in your studies, keep enjoying soccer, and live life like there is always a tomorrow. A little secret, I always wanted a little girl to go with the boys. Probably just as well that never happened. She would have me wrapped around her little finger just like my daughter-in-law does now.

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