How I Met Flor, Lost Her, and Found My Purpose

One chance encounter on a Culver City bus changed everything.

A giant suitcase, a steep California hill, and a woman named Flor who would become my wife. We went to China together, taught English, built a life.

Then she died in New York on October 24th, 2019.

What happens when the person who reshaped your world is suddenly gone?

For me, it was seven months of drinking myself into a coma at 221 pounds. Then I came to my senses, went straight edge, dropped 40 pounds, got certified as a personal trainer, and started building something new from the wreckage.

Here's what this story holds:

· The serendipity of meeting someone who changes your trajectory

· What it looks like to lose that person and survive

· The concrete steps of rebuilding—fitness, sobriety, career

· How grief becomes fuel for community building

· The birth of HAKEYM News and the Party Line vision

Press play. Listen to the whole story.