I'm Alive: Courage, Hope, and a Miracle
240
I'm Alive: Courage, Hope, and a Miracle
240eBook
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633193369 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 10/15/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 36 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
I'm Alive
Courage, Hope, and a Miracle
By Duke Pieper, Jim Bruton
Triumph Books
Copyright © 2015 Duke Pieper and Jim BrutonAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63319-336-9
CHAPTER 1
Just Your Average Family
I loved life as a young kid. I was always busy. I was like most kids, I suppose. I had fun and I made snow forts and l liked the winter months like every other boy in Minnesota. I also loved putting things together. I especially liked to play with LEGOs. I could put them together in a million different combinations. I had thousands of them. Every Christmas I would ask for more.
My parents, my sister, and I are a close-knit family. My dad is special. I get along with him really well. He is a big teddy bear, a big guy who can really squeeze you tight. He is a hard worker and a genuine person. He has always been there for me. Sure, I have to pick up after him once in a while, but nobody's perfect. We have a great relationship. Through all our hockey trips we spent a lot of time together. He has been a real mentor for me all my life.
He has an entrepreneurial spirit and likes to take on things and make them work. He likes to start new projects and has been pretty successful with all sorts of them over the years. Concerning this book project, I know he really wanted me to do it. He has been really encouraging. I think he feels that after everything that happened to me, I have a great story to tell. He feels like I had experiences that no one else had ever had before. He wants, like I do, for me to be able to share my story and provide help to others who have experienced tragedy in their lives.
My mom has always been there for me, too. We don't always have the same viewpoint on things and we get after each other from time to time, but that's okay. My mom is the details person. She is the one in our family who keeps track of things and gets things done. On the medical side, it has been my mom who is on top of things. She knows what is supposed to happen — especially with my medical problems. After my diagnosis she did all the research, and has been in charge of my physical therapy, my medications, and everything else. I depend on her, and she has never let me down. She never gave up, and was the driving force behind getting me through all this.
Mom was big in figure skating as a young woman and won some national awards. She coached figure skating, too, though she dropped most everything when I needed her. I would say that my mom has a huge heart; that became so obvious to me as she assisted me with every aspect of my new life, from coordinating with doctors and managing medications to keeping friends and family updated on my condition and generally handling all the day-to-day minutiae. She loves me deeply and has always been there for me. She watches out for me and is the one in our family who keeps it all together. Although my relationships with my parents are very different, it works for us. I feel very fortunate to have them both.
My sister, Jackie, and I get along great — when we're not playing jokes on one another. We trust each other implicitly, which is not something every guy can say about his sister. I think she is awesome. She often has been my confidant. Since she knows fashion and obviously knows about the female mind, I have checked in with her for some sisterly advice from time to time. She is also a great hockey player in her own right; she even played hockey in high school for me! She is currently on a hockey scholarship out at Merrimack College in Massachusetts. I have always joked with her that everything she has ever learned about hockey came from me. As you would expect, she has a little difference of opinion on that matter.
Jackie really took my medical problems to heart. I know it was extremely hard on her — not least of all because all of our parents' attention was focused on me during my recovery. She is a strong person and I admire her for that. We have a close relationship, and she has been there for me every step of the way. I hope she knows I will always be there for her, too.
We make a pretty great family, if you ask me. Though I can't forget the other members who make up our household. One of the real loves of my life as a young kid — and even today — has been my dogs. I am honestly convinced that having a dog gives a person a very different perspective on life. I guess it is the companionship, the love, and the loyalty that makes the relationship so special.
I was about eight when we got Pepsi, a Wheaten Terrier. My dad has always taken credit for the name, and usually I let him have it, but I know that I was the one who thought of Pepsi. My cousin had a dog named Cola, as in Coca-Cola. Well, once I heard that name, I knew that our dog had to be named Pepsi. It was just that simple.
Pepsi was a great dog, and absolutely spoiled rotten. Our connection was special. In fact, when I was in the hospital, my parents would bring Pepsi to the hospital to see me, and he knew exactly what room I was in. He would automatically go right to my room. He just knew. I always thought that was pretty neat. I was devastated when Pepsi passed away, but I will never forget him. He helped me through some very tough times.
Today we have two dogs. We have another Wheaten Terrier named Sprite — there we go with the pop names again — and we have Crosby, who is a miniature goldendoodle. My sister named Crosby after the great hockey player from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby. They are both great pets who bring us pure joy.
As a family we have a lake place on Lake Alexandria near Brainerd, Minnesota. We have had it as long as I can remember. It has been in our family for generations. I love it up there. I always have something to do. Being the outdoor person that I am, I even enjoy cutting the grass and doing other yard work. I'm not much of a fisherman or hunter, so that doesn't occupy any of my time, but I really enjoy tubing, Jet Skiing, wakeboarding, and riding my motorcycle. These things come a little less easily for me now, admittedly.
My mom was a figure skater and she had me on ice skates when I was very young. I was terrible. I had no balance, so I didn't like it much. Hockey was kind of a pain in the butt for me. It was the equipment. I hated it. I hated putting on my skates, the pads; the discomfort of it all was too much and I complained a lot. I mean a lot. In fact, my parents actually had me sit out a year! It was a good call on their part, because I came around. Soon putting on a pair of skates became like putting on a pair of shoes to me. It all fit, and it fit better each time I got on the ice. Before long, hockey was a huge part of my life. I loved the game. I loved the sport. I loved the action, the competition, being with my teammates and coaches; it was my life! It was all I thought about each and every day. I was totally consumed by it.
There is something about the way it makes me feel. I feel a warmth inside when I think about the game, when I sit down to put my skates on, when I think about getting ready to play. Every single aspect of the game is a major thrill for me. Even the breeze you get in your face when you skate down the ice fascinates me. I enjoy the smell from the ice arena, seeing the fans in the stands, knowing my parents are at the game. I can't get enough of it.
The game gives me this incredible awesome feeling all over my body. I get chills down my back thinking about an upcoming game, thinking about the competition and winning. It is, in reality, tough to actually explain how it feels. There is just a connection that I have with the sport. It's tough to put it into words that do it justice; it is a connection unlike any other.
I have often thought about the difference in the sports that I am accustomed to playing and have come to the conclusion that there really is nothing else like hockey. Other sports have dead spots, time between plays, time between pitches, slowdown of play, those kinds of game aspects. Not hockey. It is constantly in motion, always something going on. The speed of the game is unbelievable. The action is superb. There is always something happening.
As I look back to the past, I know with my injury and all that has happened to me, I truly believe that parts of the game, even off the ice, have kept me going, kept my spirits up. The game has taught me to be in terrific condition, taught me to work out and stay sharp. Now that I cannot play anymore, still those parts of the game have stayed with me. Even with my disabilities I try to stay in top physical condition. Hockey has taught me that.
The game brought to me a belief that you have to always go out on the ice and do your very best or the game will pass you by. This has stayed with me. Without that drive that I learned, and the competitiveness, I would not be where I am today. I might have given up on all my problems and settled into a life of paralysis, a life of letting my physical handicaps take me down. I would be without the drive, the fight, and the "never give up" attitude.
I have also learned things like the importance of being on time. And I don't mean being five minutes early, because that is late. I mean getting there a half hour ahead, maybe an hour ahead of when you are supposed to be there, to get ready, get your mind right, and prepare yourself for the greatest game in the world.
There is a difference in playing inside and outside. Forget the actual game for a minute and think about playing outdoors on a pond or manufactured rink. Playing with my buddies in those settings is the best. The ice is kind of rugged, nobody keeps score, I cannot put words on the paper to describe it. There is nothing like it. You enjoy the weather, the chill in the air, the friendship; all to enjoy and become engulfed by.
And then the indoor arenas, the games, the fans, the competitiveness, the lights, the boards, the ice, the public address announcer, the scoreboards; awesome is the only word to characterize it. It gets my juices flowing just describing it and thinking about it.
My love was to play defense. I was a pretty tough player and I had a few fights in games, even though it is not allowed. I was really an aggressive player and found so much of the game that excited me. When I would score a goal, it was mind-boggling. When our goalie would make a big save, it was thrilling. A great fake or a perfect pass made the game worthwhile and kept the adrenaline flow at its peak. I could go on forever about every aspect of the game. It is emblazoned in me, a part of me.
I never wanted a game to end. I wanted to keep playing, shooting, passing, checking, and could hardly wait for the next time. I never had to concentrate on the ice. I never had to give any thought to what I was supposed to do with the puck, whom I was supposed to pass to; it all just came so natural to me. I never had to think about what I was supposed to do next. Never happened. The game fit me like the equipment. I loved it.
It seemed as if I was always doing something related to hockey. First there was the Mini-Mites, then the Mites, the Squirts, the Peewees, the Bantams, and then high school hockey. I played at all levels and was told that I was an exceptionally good player.
Initially when I started playing organized hockey, I wanted to be a goalie. The only problem was, I was terrible at it. More pucks seemed to go in than what I stopped. My dad once asked me, "Duke, why are you letting all these pucks get by you? Why are you letting in so many goals?" And I remember I told him, "Dad, I want my teammates to get mad. So they play better." Okay, so I lied a little. There was no such plan, obviously. I was just a bad goalie!
I played other sports, too. Soccer was important to me also. I wasn't as bad a goalie on the grass as I was on the ice. Baseball and football were also sports that occupied my interest, and I was talented at those sports. I also played a little basketball, but only for a short time in grade school. Soccer held on the longest, but eventually I felt that the game was more boring than fun.
My dad played football at Ohio State, though his career ended early because of a broken leg. His interest and athletic ability rubbed off on me and I became skilled at football. In the beginning I played flag football and then progressed to tackle football, and to be honest, I was pretty good at it.
I was enrolled at Shattuck–St. Mary's in Fairbault, Minnesota, for seventh and eighth grade. Shattuck–St. Mary's has a solid reputation for enrolling skilled hockey players who are destined for future stardom. My football interests ended while there because they would only allow students to play one sport. I was there to play hockey. That was my sport. And it was there that my dream to someday play professionally in the National Hockey League truly began.
Even though I advanced to the hockey school and that kind of took over my life, I have to go back some to talk about football for a second. I eventually transferred to Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, Minnesota, and they had no such restrictions on their student athletes, so I could play hockey and football. I think because of the success that my dad had at the college level, football was the first sport that I dreamed about playing at the professional level, and most certainly at the college level. Some sports were kind of boring for me and I never got into them much. But football? There was nothing boring about that.
As a youngster, I was really active. I was always around the other kids who loved sports. It didn't matter what the sport was. There were some kids who wanted to play and I was right there with them. I just simply loved to be moving. I've always had a close circle of friends, no matter where we have lived or what school I've been at, but I would have to say that my closest friends are my two cousins on my dad's side. Cannon is my age and Bo is a year younger. They are also talented hockey players. We have been close our entire lives.
I was once asked what my childhood was like. All I could think of was sports, sports, sports, and more sports, and hockey, hockey, hockey, and more hockey. Actually, though, I had a great childhood with many interests besides just sports. For instance, I loved to play golf — oops, back to sports again. I was also into movies quite a bit, too. Some of my all-time favorites are Happy Gilmore, Slap Shot (there I am into hockey again), and Shooter. I have watched them all several times. I was never into the video game stuff like some kids are. Surprise, surprise: most of my video game action was centered around NHL-themed games. (Later, though, it was video games that occupied most of my time and got me through the endlessly long days in recuperation.)
For the most part, I had a pretty normal childhood. I'm kind of a history buff, I suppose. I remember spending a great deal of time watching the History Channel and Discovery Channel. I have always been interested in history, especially American history and events like the Boston Tea Party and other occurrences in our country's infancy. I think my mind is analytical in the right ways for history: I like to find out about things, go back to the past and see what happened. It might seem a kind of strange hobby for a kid, but it's true. It was definitely my favorite subject in school. I wasn't much of a reader, like my sister, so I got my history fix from the television and school. I was fascinated by it.
We first lived in Eagan, but when I began to have considerable success as a young hockey player at the Peewee level and in football, our family agreed that I would likely have a better chance to fully exploit those skills in the Edina school system. So we decided to move. I was the one who picked out the house. It had everything. For one thing, it was a rambler. Our previous house had a lot of stairs, which my dad didn't like, so it was made for him. It also had a pool. My sister, we joked, was some kind of fish, so the house was made for her, too. Everything about it seemed as if it was tailor-made for us. Initially our plan was to rent in the Edina school district, but when we found this house, we all liked it so much my parents purchased it. It is still our home today.
I was the one who found it. I searched online until I found the one that was just right for us. I don't know why, but early on in my life I developed this philosophy: if you want to get something done, do it yourself. Get it done, I taught myself.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from I'm Alive by Duke Pieper, Jim Bruton. Copyright © 2015 Duke Pieper and Jim Bruton. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Lou Nanne,Coauthor's Note by Jim Bruton,
Prologue: What Is Happening to Me?,
1. Just Your Average Family,
2. Doctors and Denials,
3. The Puck Drops,
4. Hospitals and Heartaches,
5. Who Am I?,
6. I Just Can't Cry Anymore,
7. Graduation,
8. Going It Alone,
9. I Will Never Give Up,
10. A Lot of Doubts (Not Mine),
11. Some Good Thoughts,
12. Life's Lessons,
Afterword: Strategies for Survival,
Acknowledgments,
Photo Gallery,