Guy Stroup

I had a stroke in 2001 which has a lot to do with my physical appearance and the way I live my life but I don't let it control my life just the way I do things. I 'm unable to use my left side as much as I would like to or anything like the normal way I did before the stroke but I have actively engaged myself in the last 15 years in many activities including: degree in computer maintenance, rebuilding a 1947 house including plumbing, physical maintenance of my body and health like mowing grass, gym, and physical therapy as well as seeing all my doctors for regular checks.

The stroke was the scariest thing that happened in my life and the other things like heart attack with quadruple bypass, back operations, fights with gangs and robbers, the death of loved ones, being left alone after a major handicap are all secondary to the trauma of stroke. Its also the hardest thing to live with and to fight against.

My earlier life was a great adventure with hundreds of jobs and many successes including sales and management as well ownership of companies. I will get into that later. My life now is living on a fixed income, Social Security, staying in Kindred Nursing Home, trying to earn a few extra bucks writing.

I learned after my stroke that I should look at that tragedy as an opportunity. It has certainly changed my perspective. I look at everything differently and have empathy where I used to have only sympathy.

In the 60's, I was a hippie, after bagging groceries in high school and working as a Water Purification Operator in Atlanta. Then I was in prison for car theft committed by what I thought was a friend and then he duped me into a joyride with me totally unaware of theft and served 18 months in a south Georgia prison. I also went to COBOL school in Atlanta while paying for the school by working for Refrigerated Transport Company (RTC) loading freezer trucks. I fell in one of their trucks and had to have a laminectomy (back operation) and had to sue the company for Worker's Compensation in order to pay for the operation. This caused me to have to be out of work for a year under doctor' orders. I took this opportunity to try the Ken Keysey experiment and travel the USA as a hippie connecting me to my generation of young dissenters.

In 1980 I ran a moving company as General Manager with success and even published our own tariff with the Georgia Public Service Commission.