Their Stories

“I grew up with a woodworker father. He carved me a wooden carving knife that I played with as a toddler. I played at doing things and helped with some projects throughout my youth, but as with many teens I moved away from the hobbies of my parents. I developed clinical depression during those years and was dealing with ADHD, though I had no idea because I didn’t show the typical symptoms. I just self-medicated with a lot of caffeine and nicotine though I did take anti-depressants and went to therapy, though never really found the peace we often search for. When i was 17 my father was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a consequence of his contact with Agent Orange in Vietnam. I tell many that I am the poster child for the male brain not developing until the mid-20s. I made a lot of stupid decisions in those years but at 27 I had been laid off, was battling undiagnosed diabetes, and was newly married. A year later I finally quit smoking and saw a doctor. I found more stable employment and got treatment for all my concerns, including the depression once again. All the while, my father continued to go to treatment and decline in health, still woodworking though unable to do as much as he once did. In 2019, my father’s middle-brother passed away, and on December 1st of that same year, my father passed after battling CLL for 17 years; half of my life at that point. My father-in-law also moved in with my wife and I after we purchased a house together. The following August, my father’s last remaining brother passed away and as the remaining relative I dealt with the estate and while doing so, my father-in-law developed end-stage kidney disease and dementia. At a time when my wife and I were hoping to start a family we were losing them and due to her father’s health concerns we became caretakers. I had bariatric surgery in November of 2022, and thrived for a couple of years to the point where I weighed less than I had since middle school. But in the summer of 2024, my brother-in-law passed away suddenly of a heart attack leaving my sister a widowed mother on her own in Maine. My mother and I took several trips to help her handle everything and, in truth, it is still not done. But dealing with all of that I fell back into back habits. The stress of everything made things worse and I have found myself regaining nearly all the weight I had lost. In December 2024, the 5th anniversary of my father’s death, I was doing some cleaning and found his old carving knives. I decided then to pick up the hobby again. I started with carving figures and found the spoon carving community. I eventually decided to try my hand at other things and created gavels for my Masonic Lodge and a headboard for my wife and I. Having just a 10′ x 12′ shed that I can use half of because it stores the yard tools, I can’t do much, but I have been consuming the works of Chris Schwarz and have been following Shea for some time as a local. I rely mostly on hand tools, my only power tools being a 9-inch bandsaw, a cordless drill, circular saw, and orbital sander. I tried my hand at the Anarchist’s Workbench, but my insufficient experience with a hand plane and a lack of a power planer has made the project one that may end up in the fire pit at this point. I found Plane Wellness while in the middle of all of this. I am still very new to woodworking, and while this has only been my first class with Plane Wellness I have learned many new skills and have met some great people. Every day is still a struggle, but this community has been a great one to be a part of and I look forward to more time with it.” – 3/3/26