Autobiography
Date Published: February 14, 2023
Publisher: MindStir Media
Do you ever wonder who you really are? Richard Cole was front page news a
few weeks after his birth in 1944, but this was something he never knew. He
did know he was adopted and he did wonder who he really was. But, as a young
adult, he wondered much more about finding success, a simple goal that
seemed so elusive.
He was 19 when he married his high school sweetheart and took off, full
speed, into the adult world. Harsh reality and his failure to focus on
long-term goals made his desire to succeed just an unlikely dream.
He finally took control of his life and made the climb up to a nice
middle-class life. Along with his wife, two really cute kids, and a new
suburban home, they were the picture of a perfect little family. Then the
dream evaporated and Richard’s life began a downward spiral that ended with
him alone and subsisting on food stamps and unemployment checks. But Richard
had met someone on his way down, someone who stuck with him during the bad
times. She gave him a reason to keep trying, and hope that things would get
better.
This lighthearted autobiography takes you along on Richard’s quest to find
success in life and shares his discovery of the distant secrets that
surrounded who he really was.
“Find yourself getting stuck in a zigzag of life’s twists and turns,
unsure of where you’ll land? Richard Cole certainly has and Distant Secrets
maps out his journey through hardships and gains and everything in between.
He opens up to share his intimate world of experiences and the “moments
of stunning mental clarity” that have guided him along the
way.”
-J.J. Hebert, USA Today best-selling author
EXCERPT
PREFACE
“I’m not a well-known politician, an influential investment banker, or a sports legend. I’m not even a movie star who thinks he has all the answers to the world’s problems. I’m just a normal person. My family and friends would probably say “abnormal,” but I’m sticking with normal since I’m the one writing.
Being in my seventies, I find myself reflecting on my life much more than when I was younger. My memories play back like so many highlight scenes from old favorite movies. Each scene pops up accompanied by mental comments such as “Oh, I had forgotten about that” or “I can’t believe I was that stupid.” Sometimes I get a “Way to go, Richard, you were the man!” and there are always a few “I wonder what would have happened if…?” thoughts.
Those old memory highlights came in handy when my high school class of 1962 was preparing for one of our reunions. The organizers gave us a homework assignment to provide some information about our lives since high school that could be posted on the reunion website.
I started writing, but I just couldn’t get the ideas flowing, thankfully, it turned out to be easier than I first thought. All I had to do was relax and let the old memories play back in my head while I took notes.
As I wrote about myself, I made it a point to be very honest, although I’m not sure that’s expected when you’re trying to look good for your old school friends.
I included representative highlights of the good and the not-so-good, and it wasn’t long before it was finished. There it was, my entire life’s story reduced down to a page and a half.
It was more than a little depressing. My entire life only filled a page and a half. That little punch to my ego felt better after I thought about all the interesting and unusual things that didn’t make the final cut for that short article. I realized there was more than a page and a half to my life.
That one act of writing down a summary of my life led me to an unexpected and pleasing realization. While I have not conquered the world like every high school kid thinks they will, and I don’t believe anyone will be making a movie about my “incredible” life, I have had a good, full life punctuated with many interesting and unusual experiences.
That realization, and having friends telling me I should write a book, got me thinking about it. I had never written a book, and since I had suffered a condition that made it difficult to read, I found the idea both challenging and appealing. Then it started; a little but highly annoying voice in my head joined in to pester me. “Write a book, write a book, write a book.”
That is why I wrote this book. The next question is, why should you read it? Well, I think you will find it interesting, entertaining and worth the price, but I can’t guarantee that. However, I can guarantee that every story and every event I describe in this book is presented just the way it happened. I promised myself I would keep it factual.
Oh, I should also let you know I have not used the real names of many people mentioned in this book. But, if they want to tell you it was them, that’s fine with me.
About the Author
Richard Cole held a wide variety of short-term jobs until his late
thirties. He finally settling down with Motorola as a computer systems
analyst and later a data center manager. During that period, he turned his
wild bird feeding hobby into a little business and went on to opened his
first Bird Watcher Supply Company store in 1988.
Richard’s wife, Nancy, operated the retail store and Richard
continued his corporate job, helped at the store part-time and worked to
perfect his special blends of wild bird feeds. He left the corporate world
in 1990 to open their second retail store.
The Bird Watcher stores grew to five locations and Cole’s Wild Bird
Products was formed to produce and distribute their bird feeds which now
attracts a national following. Richard and Nancy sold their retail stores
when Richard turned seventy. Cole’s Wild Bird Products is still owned
and operated by the Cole family.
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