HI, I'M KEVIN AND THIS IS MY STORY
On a sunlit winter afternoon in Arlington, Texas, Super Bowl Sunday of 1981, young friends Trey Shelton and Kevin Curnutt rode their dirt bikes into the crosshairs of a troubled neighbor who didn’t like the noise. Trey was killed instantly by the first shotgun blast. Kevin, age thirteen, was paralyzed when the second blast struck him in the head.
Then, in his darkest moment, he happened across Steven Covey’s bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was Covey who introduced Kevin to the writings of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. Kevin would later discover wisdom and inspiration from disparate sources such as mythologist Joseph Campbell, Ram Dass, and Tibetan Buddhism.
Years later, after a long and ultimately unsuccessful rehabilitation effort to restore the use of his limbs, the cruel reality of his life began to sink in. Kevin would never be able to feed himself, or drive a car, or turn the pages of a book without assistance. He would never marry or have a family. Despair eventually consumed him. He thought more and more about taking his life.
What Kevin found through contemplation and study was a place within himself of universal love and peace, an inner sanctuary that remained untouched by the tribulations of the world, a sanctuary that is available to all. He also came to understand that human beings always have the choice about how they respond to life, no matter how cruel the fates might sometimes be.
In this wise, eloquent, and hopeful book, Kevin shares his path and that message, and invites our troubled world to find that same place of universal love and serenity that lies within.
ABOUT THE BOOK AUTHORS
Kevin Curnutt was thirteen years old when shot off a dirt bike by a troubled recluse. After that terrible day in Arlington, Texas, Kevin spent fifteen excruciating years of physical therapy trying unsuccessfully to regain the use of his arms and legs, and many more years searching for a way out of deepening despair.
It was at his lowest moment that he began to look inward for healing. Years of spiritual reading, contemplation, and meditation led him to a profound understanding of the nature of existence and our place in it.
He has dedicated his life to spreading the message of love and healing, and to helping people move past their troubles into the peaceful, transcendent realm he has discovered. He lives in his hometown of Arlington, Texas.
Tim Madigan is the New York Times bestselling author of The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, and I’m Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers, a critically acclaimed memoir. He and his wife Catherine live in Texas.
