Many readers have become familiar with the frequent commenter, known as Ron Adams. I often like to reach out to frequent commenters as a sign of my appreciation for their comments, but when I started talking to Ron, I found his life to be an amazing story and a great blog post.

The Early Years

Ron was born into a family of steel workers and movers in Pennsylvania. His parents, Estelle and Paul, were not wealthy by any means, but they instilled in him a sense that education was a good thing. I’m particularly glad to hear about this because so many kids are being taught that education is something upon which to look down. He put himself through a local community college, but unfortunately, things took a rapid turn for the worse.

A Brief Crisis

It was a miracle that Ron managed to escape the undesireable forces around him for so long, but finally in college, he succumbed to peer pressure. It started with marijuana, but quickly turned into a crack cocaine habit. He was caught by an undercover agent and spent some time behind bars, but eventually recovered. By the time he turned 30, his new wife, May, was helping him stay away from what she calls his “past with the ‘puff-puffs.’”

The Good Part

I was astounded when I heard about just the first few years of Ron’s life. (Ron’s brother Juan was also there). But now Ron owns a trucking company and has turned his life around.

Editor’s Note

Have you ever written something really well, then had a computer problem and lost the whole thing? Believe it or not, I actually wrote this post by hand and it succumbed to an unfortunate run-in with a paper shredder. You really do not want to know the details. I talked to Ron when I couldn’t write this post as well as I did the first time, and he told me to publish it anyway. If I had more time, I’d try to save this and do it justice, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m in a crazed frenzy.