Two years ago today I finished restoring one of our family’s most prized heirlooms that was badly burned and damaged in the house fire that killed my parents. It was my grandfather’s 1920’s Martin Ukulele.
For me, trying to restore it after the fire, symbolized overcoming the tremendous loss of both my family (both parents and both brothers all died that year), and generations of our family’s history and heirlooms.
When I first started the task, it literally seemed impossible, yet one that I was unwilling to give up on. In the end as you can see, I was successful. Not only did I fix the ukulele, but it also retained its amazing 90 year old voice.

Often in life we are faced with seemingly insurmountable problems. But I have learned that by stepping forward into our problems with both confidence and resolve rather than succumbing to their weight, one can almost always succeed.
May we all find the strength to stand in the face of the problems before us today, and may we all remain standing after those challenges are long gone!

Peace & Blessings,
Patrick McCollum