In Someone Else's Hands

In Someone Else’s Hands

At a recent concert, Keith Urban saw a sign held by a fan and he invited him up on stage. The guy wanted to play guitar. So, Keith Urban handed him his guitar, and then perhaps as a precaution, asked his guitar tech for a guitar. “Any guitar, Chris,” is what he said.

I’ve heard of other artists bringing fans up on stage and having them perform. Bryan Adams brought up a fan for his hit, Cuts Like A Knife, and it didn’t turn out so well. And in this case, Keith Urban handed this kid his own guitar and the song was Sweet Thing, full of vintage guitar riffs. When I watched the video, I was focused more on Keith than I did on the kid, because this was his song, his guitar and this particular performance was In Someone Else’s Hands.

How did it turn out?

“He crushed it!” is what Keith Urban said. And to my untrained ear when I listened to it, it sure sounded like he had crushed it! It really sounded great!

This past week, we took a vacation to Tennessee and it was one of the best we’ve ever had. Peaceful, tranquil, and yet, busy. Horseback riding, Moonshine tasting, Tubing down a river with a couple of small rapids thrown in, a tour of Cades Cove, mini-golf on the side of a mountain, visiting an enormous aquarium where the girls got to pet stingray and jellyfish.

But . . .

Kim, Hannah and Emily wanted to go white water rafting. Hmmm . . .

Now folks, I have to tell you that I’m not competent nor comfortable in water except a hot tub or a bath tub. The thought of the necessity of having to wear a helmet and a lifejacket caused me some anxiety. Okay, I was actually very nervous. I almost chickened out.

It was a forty-five minute trip on the Pigeon River that started just feet from the North Carolina border. We were given instructions:

1.      Don’t stand on the river if you fall out of the boat because most drownings occur when one’s foot gets lodged between rocks and debris on the river floor. Yes, comforting, especially the falling out of the boat and drowning part.

2.      Keep the lifejacket snug because if you do fall overboard, they pull you up by the shoulder straps, not your arms, for fear of dislocating a limb. Oh, great!

Our guide, BP, was a young kid- late twenties or early thirties. Heck, at my age, anyone ten years younger than me is a kid.

He had six years’ rafting experience and was a former Marine (not that I knew that until we were actually on the water). Still, I gave up what little control I had and placed it squarely, if not begrudgingly, In Someone Else’s Hands.

BP was funny, informative, and gave us a wonderful trip. I would go again in a heartbeat, especially if he was our guide.

Still, the thought of placing my life and lives of Kim, Hannah and Emily In Someone Else’s Hands caused me nervousness and anxiety and almost at the end, I almost didn’t go. I almost chickened out.

But I didn’t. I didn’t.

I allowed myself the opportunity to trust someone I didn’t know. I allowed myself to trust that someone, besides me, knows what to do and how to do it. I allowed myself to let go, to go along, and to believe that I cannot, will not, be able to control everything. Nor should I. A big step for me. Perhaps, a big step for each of us. To let go. To place ourselves In Someone Else’s Hands. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

Please feel free to connect with me at

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI/      

Recent interview of me and my work, you can find it at http://bit.ly/29yA9IT

If you like to read thriller/mystery, check out:

Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:

Two thirteen year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis       

Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:

Six men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis      

Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:

The FBI knows a 14 year old boy has a price on his head, but he and his family don’t. With no leads and with nothing to go on, the FBI gambles and sets up the boy and his family as bait in order to catch three dangerous and desperate men with absolutely nothing to lose.

http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis      

The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:

FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis  

Some Not So Final Thoughts . . . Again

Two years ago, I wrote this post. I wrote it two weeks after the death of my son, Wil. He would have been 30 years old. He and his wife, Maria, had been talking about having children. Just the day before his murder, he received what he called his dream job. And in one thoughtless act as he walked innocently down the street after stopping for noodles and after picking up one or two items for their new apartment, he was shot in the back by a then fifteen year old gang member.

Wil just happened to be walking down a street when a bullet meant for someone else took Wil’s life, his future . . . our son, and Emily’s and Hannah’s brother . . . away.

It didn’t have to happen. It never should have happened. Not to Wil and not to anyone else. Sadly, it did.

I decided to repost this entry. I don’t want or need pity or sympathy. My wife and kids don’t want or need pity or sympathy. That is not the reason for my reposting this entry.

You see, I truly believe . . . believe strongly and deeply . . . that each of us has a purpose. Each of us needs someone on the sidelines of our life to cheer us on when all we want to do is quit. Each of us needs someone in our lives who says, “You can do this!” “You’ve got this!” “Yes, I believe in you!”

It’s really the reason I began this blog several years ago. If it helps just one person, it’s a success. If it causes a smile or a nod of the head, it’s all good. And sometimes, it might bring a tear. I guess that’s good, too.

I call it “Simple Thoughts From A Complicated Mind, Sort Of” because they really are ‘simple thoughts’. And I really don’t have that ‘complicated of a mind’. Really. I think and I ponder, that’s all. Sometimes I share it, while at other times, I tuck it away.

What I like about this post was that it talks about three ideas that are near and dear to me. Three ideas that I believe in, and I hope to some degree, you do, too.  

So from me to you, from my heart to yours, and from my family to yours, I give you this once more . . .

July 28, 2014:

Last week, we laid to rest our son, Wil.  It was, and is, difficult.  As I reflect on it, I wanted to share with you Some Not So Final Thoughts.

When I read the newspaper or watch the TV news and when a story comes on about a gunshot victim or people dying in a plane crash, of course I’m saddened. No one likes to read or hear about death, especially to the young, certainly not children. However, there has not been the “personal” connection until my son, Wil, died in a homicide while taking a break and walking to a restaurant for noodles. Shouldn’t have happened to him, and it should not happen to others.  But now it is difficult to read the newspaper or watch the TV news because those stories are all the more real to me, to Kim, and to Hannah and Emily. Too real.

When it was my turn to speak at the service, I didn’t say all I wanted to say . . . all I needed to say. I did the best I could, and I think Wil was okay with that.  Yet . . .

I talked about his struggle learning the English language. For a new learner, it takes from seven to ten years to become fluent. Wil worked hard at it and there were some funny moments. In Wil’s ears, birds were “burps” and clouds were “ballooms.” Yes, I spelled it correctly, at least how Wil pronounced it. There was a cartoon that Wil liked and its theme song and lyric went: “looting and polluting, it’s up to you!” What Wil sang as he danced around the family room was: “oony ah balloony estass to you!” (I spelled that phonetically) But it wasn’t all on Wil.

One evening, I wanted to tell Wil that I was a little upset at him for not working hard on his homework. My Spanish was and is awful, and I said, “Yo soy un poco mojado” but when he looked at me in wonder, I ‘corrected’ myself and said, “Yo soy un poco morado.” He laughed at me and I looked up what I said and found out that I told him I was “wet and purple.”

Those of you who read my posts regularly know that I use three phrases most, if not all, of the time and I use each phrase deliberately.

The first is: “Something to think about . . .”

I believe what we read, what we hear, and what we see should be considered and thought about.  It should be reflected on. Obviously it is a choice whether one does so, but all of life has a lesson, some big, some small, and most can be applied to our lives. Reflection is important in the growing process. What did we learn? How does this apply? How might this change me? What can I do differently? What should I keep doing? What must I stop doing? All great questions.  Evening works best for my reflection, but so does morning. We have a gift in each Morning (a previous post)- a ‘do over’. How great is that? We’re not bound by the past. We’re not doomed to repeating it. We can grow from it, learn from it, and each Morning, we get to begin again.  But it all begins with “Something to think about . . .”

The second is: “Live Your Life . . .”

Your Life! Not someone else’s. Certainly not someone’s idea of what Your Life should be. It is yours to live! Wil didn’t necessarily do things the way I had wanted him to. Wil made his own way. Sometimes he struggled until he got it right. Sometimes he sought out my advice and went with it, but other times he sought it and didn’t use it. That’s okay. It worked for him, because it was Wil’s life, just like Your Life is yours! When you get in your car and drive to a destination, chances are there are several, if not many, ways to get there. Some might take you longer. Some might take only a short time. Yet, you arrive! You always do! Live Your Life . . .  I have your back on that!

The third is: “Make A Difference!”

One can move through life without feeling, without thinking, and one can merely exist. One can move through life and use others, trample on them to get to their goal, their prize, their result.  Or one can lift up, one can support, one can help along and encourage. And I believe in so doing, each of us is helped in perhaps greater measure. It makes the journey easier. The pain we sometimes have becomes, if not less, at least a little more bearable because it is shared. Our pain is, on some level, understood. Each day, each minute, we have a choice to make a positive impact on others. Judging by the comments shared with us at his service and on the In Memory of Wil Lewis page on Facebook and the comments shared with us at the visitation and the luncheon that followed the memorial service, Wil made a positive impact on many. And the beauty of it was that perhaps Wil was unaware he had done so. Wil just Lived His Life and in so doing, Made A Difference!

That’s all I really ask of you. Each of you. Each day, each moment. Just Live Your Life and Make A Difference! Not too much to ask, is it? 

In Apollo 13, there is a scene when the three astronauts are in their little capsule. They aren’t sure if they will survive the reentry into the atmosphere. They aren’t sure if they will make a safe and soft landing. Their hands are in the hands of some unknown folks thousands of miles away. I don’t know the historical accuracy of the scene, but the character played by Tom Hanks turns to his partners and says, “Gentlemen, it has been an honor and a privilege.”

Wil, it has been an honor and a privilege to be your dad.  It has been an honor and a privilege for me for you to be my son. A real honor and a real privilege. I regret that I wasn’t walking along the sidewalk with you July 12^th. I regret that I didn’t have my arm around your shoulders and I regret that I didn’t tell you one more time how very proud I was . . . am . . . of you. I will live with that. But I will also live with the fact that you called us the day before, on July 11^th to wish us, Kim and me, a happy anniversary. We laughed because you weren’t sure of the date and we laughed because you had a bit of trouble remembering dates. The laughter was good, is always good.

Yes, it has been an honor and a privilege, Wil. Always. You had a positive impact on many and you probably didn’t even know you had. A life well lived. Very well lived. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

Celebrating . . . Life!

I sit here this early morning writing this post on the 4^th of July. It is our Independence Day! There will be fireworks and music, patriotic movies, and barbecues. It’s a little odd for us, though, because Kim is in Wisconsin with her parents. Her dad had heart surgery and her mom is still healing from a painful break. Hannah is in Pitt with her boyfriend’s family. So on this day of celebration, it’s just Em and me. Last night we went to a movie, and today, she’s hanging out with a couple of friends.

At the end of this week, Em has her college orientation. It’s her first, Kim’s and my third. So far, each has been different.

Wil went to an art school in downtown Milwaukee. The orientation was maybe a half-day. Hannah went to a large university about two hours from home and we spent the whole day there. We dropped her off and she went one way and we went in a different direction and hooked up at the end. Em chose to attend a small school in a large city. Just as in Hannah’s case, Em will go one way and we’ll go the other and meet up at the end.

While Kim and I will join the ranks of you who are, or will be at some point in the future, empty nesters, I am choosing to look at this as a Celebration of Life!

Life moves forward, not backward. Certainly Em is moving forward with her life. Just as Hannah graduates in December and then enters grad school for her education certification and license, and just as Em begins that four year or so journey, Kim and I enter a new phase of our life. It’s a Celebration of Life!

And next week on July 11^th, Kim and I have our anniversary. Twenty-four years together! A lot of adventures, a lot of very happy times, and some sad ones as well. Certainly worthy of a Celebration, especially for me, because Kim put up with me all these years. Heck, she deserves a medal!

And one day later on July 12^th, we will remember our son, Wil. I wouldn’t call it a Celebration, really. It is too sad, too painful, and he was taken from us only two years ago. No, not a Celebration, but a remembrance. Not sure what we’ll do for it. But I’m sure there will be funny stories and some “I remember when . . .” Probably some tears, some in private and some together.   

We, you and I, Celebrate . . . Life in many different ways. Some of our Celebrations are personal like birthdays and anniversaries. We Celebrate success in our jobs, advancement in our careers. We participate in the Celebrations of the successes and achievements of those in our lives.

To me, Celebrations of Life are acknowledgements of what has taken place. It is recognizing our past- what we’ve achieved, what we’ve overcome. But Celebrations of Life are also a glance forward, a look ahead.

You see, Life continues to move forward. Life doesn’t stay put. Life doesn’t go backward. It is constant, ever changing, ever moving. Celebrate the moment you’re in. Take time to notice and take stock. Enjoy who and what is around you. But also, Celebrate and acknowledge your past and where you’ve been, where you’ve come from, but always, always, move forward, look ahead. Celebrate . . . Life! Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

Please feel free to connect with me at

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI/     

If you like to read thriller/mystery, check out:

Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:

Two thirteen year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis      

Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:

Six men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis     

Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:

The FBI knows a 14 year old boy has a price on his head, but he and his family don’t. With no leads and with nothing to go on, the FBI gambles and sets up the boy and his family as bait in order to catch three dangerous and desperate men with absolutely nothing to lose.

http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis     

The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:

FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis