I am a 53-year-old educator (23 years teaching and three years as vice principal). I am joyfully married to my soulmate, Jessica, for three decades, and am a proud father and grandfather.

As an avid year-round hiker, I have hiked the “New Hampshire 48 4,000 footers”, the "New England 67 4,000 footers” and completed the Vermont Long Trail last summer (273 miles with 65,370-plus elevation gain) as a fundraiser for the MPN Research Foundation. One of my favorite hikes was summiting Scotland’s Ben Nevis solo. I tend to hike solo but enjoy the company of family and friends as well. In my life when I face struggles I take to the mountains. It focuses my mind and spirit on my “next steps.” Success is attained step by step much like hiking. While hiking you will slip and fall, you will deal with pain and discomfort. You will be wet and cold, you will descend and ascend but you will also witness bucolic vistas, magnificent sunrises, and sunsets, babbling brooks, majestic waterfalls, cooling rivers, industrious wildlife, smells and scents that feed the soul. Hiking is an easy metaphor for life. One that fuels my spirit. Once you ascend to the mountaintop you invariably descend to the col or valley only to eventually ascend another mountain.

In life we will have successes but, according to Winston Churchill: “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Those times in the valley, literally and figuratively, is where we reflect and gain our strength to ascend again; to gain perspective and understanding. The trail trains my approach to life. Although the trail is long and the seed is sown, I’ll meet you further up onto the trail. One sunny morning we’ll rise I know, and I’ll meet you further on up the trail.

Donate to Gary’s fundraising page: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/s2s22/account/1294460/