Every Generation has a subset of individuals that looks to the sky and down the road, to dream of what is over the hill.
Adventure. The Lost Generation probably summed it up best with international travel and wide eyes for the future. The Greatest Generation turned to the inner America to remember what they had fought for when everyone came home. The Boomers hit the road 25 years later, riding anything they could find, to get away and move forward with their lives. I respect those individuals that were able to take a leap of faith and travel, explore, and still be able to communicate these feelings, inspirations and visions to the rest of the world. Those pioneers, explorers of every age, had a certain aspect about them, something that pushed them to look ahead. Every Generation has had those individuals. I humbly sum them up as members of Generation Adventure.
We are Generation Adventure.
And now for something completely different…..
About me.
My name is Russ. I am the proprietor and caretaker of this endeavor, Generation Adventure. I have for many years truly enjoyed motorcycle and car events. If it had wheels, I was interested. I received my first motorcycle before I had my first car. After pleading with my mother for months, she finally agreed to help me purchase a motorcycle, but after I tore it up, which I most likely would, she would not help me fix it. I was on my own. I then received a 2-year-old Kawasaki KE 100 Enduro.
I promptly tore it up. Burnt up the top end, and a hole in the piston. I learned a lot from my mother on that. I learned resilience and determination. I was able to rebuild the top end with some help from friends who had kinda done it, but we really didn’t know what we were doing completely. We pulled it apart, I scraped together some money for parts, and started the re assembly process. After it was back together, we stood over it wondering if it would even start. By god it did. I never looked back.
I tell you this story because I believe this started my ability to never say no, or I can’t. 15 years later, I was diagnosed with a rare eye disease called at that time, Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis. I was in my late 20’s and notices something odd in my vision. I went to the doctor and was told I needed eye surgery that day due to my condition, as I had a hemorrhage about the size of a pencil eraser in the back of my Left eye. During the Medieval times of the mid to late 1990’s the only way to stop the Hemorrhage from spreading was to cauterize around the area and then use the same laser to “poke” a hole in it to let the vitreous fluid back into the eye. That destroyed all the rods and cones in the area of the laser surgery. Vision lost in that area. I went on to have 3 more surgeries in my left eye and 5 laser, and one invasive procedure in my right eye over the course of the next 15 years. I was working at Bausch and Lomb, in the sports optics division in the beginning, and enjoyed an active life hunting, motorcycling, and even had 20 hours into my private pilot’s license. All of that changed when my vision became impaired. Lucky for me, the procedures were all in different places in each eye, so I never totally lost vision if both eyes are open. The places that are void, are picked up by the other eye. I have been very fortunate in this, as one situation was 1mm away from me being unable to even drive a car. I would have lost most of my mobility as I knew it.
This is a tough story to put down as do not even tell people of this, and if you didn’t know me from years past, you wouldn’t know. I do not like to have the spot light placed on me in this fashion, I do like the spotlight from time to time, but I tell you this story because I never let this define me. I have gone on to do some amazing things with my life. Not as much as true adventurers, but within the means that I have, I have been blessed achieving some amazing life goals. My condition is never in check, and could reoccur at any time. I am ready for whatever life brings in this area. I have a wonderful supportive family, and I believe we can get through anything. I know I am a lucky man. Histoplasmosis has devastated the lives of many families. It’s a cruel disease that happens to healthy people.
I want people to know that what ever life has to throw at you, you can get through it. There is a work around for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. You just gotta look for it and want it.
Oh, and remember,
Explore. Dream. Discover! Seriously think about those words, Mark Twain was spot on discussing and living life.
Russ