The morning of 9/12 was marked by a deep sorrow.  So many innocent lives had been lost on 9/11, the day before.  But for many that day also marked another tragedy.  It was a day millions of people became paralyzed………. by fear.

The most outward demonstration of this fear was the silence in the skies.  All flights in the United States had been suspended.  Although I appreciated the attempts of our government to keep us safe, I was dismayed at the irrational fear of flying, or shopping, or being in a public place.  The enemy’s greatest victory that day was the resulting plague of fear that spread across the country in response to their horrible actions.

Many years ago, in a galaxy far far away, there was a television commercial promoting beer.  The commercial featured several young people precariously perched on a catamaran sailing through the water.  As spray hit the lens of the camera, a dramatic voice announced, “You only go around once! Reach for all the gusto you can get.”  Then the ad encouraged the viewer to drink their beer.

The ad was brilliant and deceptive.

People often ask me, “Ken, how do you get up and do comedy and present a message of hope on those nights when you don’t feel funny and you not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm?

I am going to give you my answer in my next blog, but I want to hear from you first.  Benjamin Franklin said, “Many men die at 25 and aren’t buried until they are 75.”  How do YOU keep from throwing in the towel. How do YOU stay out of  “The Box?”

Not long ago I found myself living in a physical, spiritual, emotional and social coma.  I should have had a big Z for Zombie branded into my forehead.

A series of events starting with an eye opening look at what I had allowed to happen to my body and culminating with the horror of losing my beloved 4 year old granddaughter in the mountains of Colorado, started my recovery from living in the depressive staleness of just “making a living,” to breathing the fresh air of living “Fully Alive.”

Today I began scouting out hiding places for the annual Easter egg hunt we hold at our home. I plan this carefully. My objective is to find hiding places that have never been used before. Evidently, my memory is becoming severely degraded. I put a little red flag in each new place I think will make a unique hiding place for this year. I poked a flag in four rotten eggs left from last year.

How could I forget a place where I stuck a flag and hid an egg only a year ago? Here is the worst part. I put out 30 flags, then I go to get the eggs. In the span of time it takes to go inside the house, get the eggs and begin placing them, I usually forget where at least five of the flags are. Just a few more years and I will be able to hide my own Easter eggs. Every egg will be a surprise!

When the starting gun goes off at the beginning of the hunt, (yes, we do have a shotgun start) the children immediately dash for the places they found eggs hidden the previous year. They have memories like elephants.