It all started early one Sunday morning in September 1997 after a two-minute encounter that would end up changing my life. It was with a man in a red pick up truck with a P.O.W. license plate. We were the only two vehicles on the road that morning.

I had no idea what I was doing with my life it felt out of control. I had just moved to Port Charlotte, Florida from Grand Rapids, Michigan just a few months before. I just picked up and moved with no money, no job - just opened a map book, pointed and moved.

I was 25 years old, super depressed and needed to get away from all those who had defined me my whole life. I don't know what compelled me that morning, up to that point I was pretty much pissed off all the time. I felt misunderstood, judged and unworthy. I was sad.

I had no idea who I was or why I was here, but I remember feeling very lucky and grateful to be in a country where I could go off and find myself. I could take as long as I needed to figure things out and I had the freedom to try as many different things as I needed to until I found my purpose.

I'm sure I looked crazy as I pulled up next to the red pickup and motioned the man to roll down his window. He looked at me very suspiciously. I don't blame him; I was just some punk kid with aggressive facial hair and dark sunglasses.

I think most people would have hesitated, but after one more motion he finally rolled down the window. I asked him, "Are you the P.O.W. on your license plate? "Yes I am", he replied. I took off my glasses and said "Thank you for my freedom." The light turned green and I pulled away.

He caught up to me at the next light and with tears in his eyes, he thanked me! He said "Not one time since I have been back from the war has anyone said that to me, I will never forget you!"

I never got the man's name and I have never seen him again, but the look on his face changed my life. The feeling we shared that day was not of this world, I felt it in my soul. From this experience my life's work was set in motion. To create a way for others to experience the feelings I felt during that chance encounter.

That day I uncovered one of the secrets to life. it's not the love you receive but rather the love you share that makes you truly happy.