My journey

My story began when I was born in New York City, lived with my grandmother during my early, formative years in Asbury Park, NJ, after which, at the age of 5, I went to live with my parents in Mahwah, NJ. It was an ideal place for a child to grow up, especially a young boy. When I was not in school, the wooded area to the east with its mountain lakes and streams was ideal for fishing and hunting, hanging out and riding my bike with friends. With New York City to east, when I became of driving age, the call of the big city beckoned me and my friends on weekend nights.

In high school I suffered an injury while playing on the junior varsity football team that seemed to dissipate fairly quickly but as injuries will sometimes do, came back to haunt me in later years. Giving up football for wrestling I wrestled throughout high school, doing very well. This type of physical contact sport was with me throughout most of my life I eventually took up another form of physical exercise - martial arts, that I continue to practice today.

After high school I joined the navy, serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, which patrolled the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam war, then the Grand Prairie Naval Air Station in Texas, concluding my military career in the navy reserves in Lakehurst New Jersey.  

It was during this time I met the woman who became my first wife and who gave birth to my only daughter, Cintina (Tina), before moving back to Texas and settling in Dallas. I am immensely proud of Tina, who is now grown with a family of her own and works as a juvenile probation supervisor.

While still living in Dallas, I attended Tarrant County Community College for two years, transferring to the University of Dallas for two years where I received a BA while working for MHMR on a children's psychiatric inpatient unit. I then moved into a psychotherapist role in an MHMR community mental health center. It was at the beginning of college that I began training in the martial arts and received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and my BA degree within months of each other. I proceeded to earn a master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Texas at Arlington. It was also during this busy time that my 7-year marriage ended in divorce.

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When my former supervisor at Dallas MHMR, moved to Houston, taking the position of clinical director at DePelchin Faith Home, as it was known at that time, she offered me the position of Director of one of the first of its kind, children's acute care psychiatric residential units in Houston. I was excited to accept. I also began training in Kung Fu at Wang's Martial Arts in Houston, where I earned a 5th degree black belt. I was also inducted into the World Peace Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2014 for my contribution to the martial arts for the development of the Martial Arts Therapeutic Training (MATT) Program. This program was designed using Tai Chi as a therapeutic intervention for youth experiencing ADHD and other related behavioral problems. I received my 7th degree black belt from the PCMA and received the title of Master.  

As a psychotherapist, I have held other clinical supervisory roles at a variety of mental health facilities, have a private practice and held staff therapist positions at other organizations throughout my career in Houston. Along the way I discovered A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and eventually remarried.  

A few years after remarrying, my mother passed away. This was a dark and painful time.

The ACIM influence continued to grow and have more and more involvement in my life. My wife, Nancy, and I studied the course together for many years, lending to a successful and loving relationship until losing her battle with cancer and passing away after 18 years of marriage. We did not have any children together, but Nancy had two daughters when we met. Since her passing, Toni, the youngest, now grown, and I have maintained a close relationship. Losing Nancy was a difficult time for both of us. I felt betrayed by God and put the course down picking it up from time to time, but not investing in it again until years later. There was a reason for that.