Now I’ve posted on Instagram about this before, but for those that don’t know I was born with a genetic blood disorder called “hemochromatosis” that basically means my body holds iron and doesn’t let it go. Iron enters the body mostly through our daily diet. A normal body properly regulates iron levels by identifying when there’s too much and then gets rid of the excess. For some reason my body can’t do this and over time, extra iron builds up and starts depositing itself in major organs like the heart, liver, pancreas and pituitary. If surplus iron is not removed via phlebotomy, the practice of drawing blood, organs can become diseased and eventually shut down. If left untreated, hemochromatosis can be fatal.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations . . . you’re reading my first blog post ever! Let me follow that up by saying how for years I’ve been reluctant to share my writing publicly for different reasons, but mainly because I feared being vulnerable and was worried about how my opinion on specific topics like faith, God and religion might be perceived by those who don’t agree. I have always considered myself an empathetic, loving and respectful person who genuinely cares about other people’s feelings and that hasn’t changed.