The origins of the book.

I’m feeling incredibly vulnerable as I write this note to say I’m soon-to-be a published author.

The book will be out in July 2024, but this is the story behind the story. Megan and I have three beautiful children. Every night, as the kids go to sleep, I give them a kiss on their head and tell them “I love you. I trust you. I’m proud of you.” It’s something that means the world to me, because I need them to know, no matter what this life brings, I will always love them. It has become a beautiful tradition that has grown organically. 

For many years of my life, I was scared of love. In fact, I nearly refused to say it. For context and to really hammer that point home, I was in a band in high school and wrote a song with a chorus that said: “I like a lot of things in this world, but I love very few.” It wasn’t until I had the privilege to create the space to delve into exploring who I truly am that I unlocked my soul’s purpose, which is to lead courageously toward love. I live this purpose each and every day. 

In the past few years, I (like many of us) have witnessed close friends struggle and suffer with extremely difficult situations including domestic abuse, depression, substance-dependency and suicide. Through this, I’ve realized that it is truly important to lean into my purpose now more than ever, and to lead courageously toward love. I believe that knowing you are loved unlocks strength, purpose and love within one’s self, and so I realized I had a book in me to share with the world.

This is the story of a father (Papa Bear) putting his four children to bed. As Papa puts them to bed, the kids ask and press their dad about whether he would really love them no matter what, with the answer coming back as a resounding - I love YOU for YOU. It’s an exploration of all of our self-doubt and vulnerability and yearning to be loved, told through the lens of a children’s book.

I’m excited to share this book with the world.