I’m 40 days into my “40 Things I Learned As I Turn 40” series on Twitter (X), Medium, and Substack.
I’ve been branching out with different stories, tidbits, and articles, across multiple social media platforms.
The goal has been to express and push my writing mind as I turn 40. Reflect on what I have done, where I am now, and where I plan on going for the next 40 years.
Today, I’m covering ages thirty through forty. 2014 to 2024. A fourth decade of life.
My funeral service career began at the end of 2014. By May 2015, it was over. Things didn’t go well for me or the funeral home.
I went back to doing what I did best: playing poker for a living.
That summer was a blast. Every day I’d work out in my gym, chill by the pool, and then play poker for a few hours at my local casino. By nightfall, I grilled steaks in celebration or drowned my sorrows.
I had weeks I made $1,000. Some days I lost a few hundred. But it paid my bills and allowed me to have absolute freedom.
Still, I promised my mom I would get my college degree and began the funeral service program at MATC.
That first semester, I aced my courses while still partying and playing online poker at night. Something was missing though.
I chose to jump back into funeral service as an apprentice. I haven’t looked back since.
I graduated in 2016 with an Associate’s Degree in Funeral Service. I made the Dean’s List. I was the Secretary of our fraternity Sigma Phi Sigma.
I became a licensed funeral director in 2017 and obtained my life insurance license in 2018.
2018 would be the beginning of my demise. That girl I wrote about from 2004 to 2014? She passed away in my condo.
I spent the next few years in such a messed up state of mind that I should have sought help. Instead, I tried to love someone new.
It wasn’t fair to her, or her family. I sold my condo and moved in with her in 2019.
I loved her, but I didn’t love myself. A year later I was living back home with my mom. My dad died in 2020.
After I buried our family dog in 2021 I packed up my bags and took my funeral directing talents 3.5 hours northwest to the highest funeral home bidder. I chased money and freedom.
It was the right place, just the wrong time. It didn’t last long. I moved back home in the winter of 2022.
Unfortunately, I had one last dance when it came to my wild and mysterious ways. I truly hit rock bottom. I lost everything again.
Trust. Money. Career. Hope.
By the grace of God, I was given another opportunity to turn my life around.
I entered rehab. I stayed for a month. I came out as a changed and motivated man. I went into cemetery sales. I became a top 5 salesperson within a year. I even stayed clean and sober. And have been for two years, 3 months, and 1 day.
I owe everything to my wife. My mother. My one-year-old daughter. My two stepsons. I even returned to funeral service this past year.
It’s home. It’s where I belong.
It’s 2024. I’m now 40 years old. I have everything I have ever wanted and more.
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Life, Death, and Everything in Between. 