I get the opportunity and privilege to celebrate 8 years of marriage today with my INCREDIBLE man!! I call it an opportunity and privilege because I know of several people who have lost spouses…many at very young ages and my heart hurts that their opportunity here on Earth to celebrate another year of marriage was taken. I know I often take Zach for granted but some these recent tragedies of people I know over the last several months have caused me to stop, think, and TRY my very best to count my MANY blessings of having Zach in my life!! To enjoy each day with him (and by day I mean ALL day since he is home for the winter :)) and to do a better job at showing my love and appreciation for him…in HIS love language…not mine! ;)
I should have known with the VERY thought out, planned, lots of work, VERY surprised proposal that he gave me that I was marrying a man who would climb mountains for me…who would do ANYTHING to bring me happiness…who would NEVER let ANYTHING including going blind stop him from being the VERY BEST husband and father that he possibly could!! I think I was just a naive, lovesick girl who didn’t realize how lucky I REALLY was to find such an incredible man to call MINE!!
In our 8 years of marriage I think this last year has been my VERY favorite!!! Zach and I have grown closer, stronger, and more in love then ever before…and I’m pretty sure our fiery trials have played a HUGE role in that!!
Don’t get me wrong…we have had A LOT of struggles, fights, and hardships in our relationship due to our trials. To be completely honest their was even some times through our darkest days that I wondered if we would make it. It is hard to admit that out loud but after talking to several couples who have faced their own tragedies together…I realized that this is an all too common thing that isn’t talked about.
Trials bring out the worst and the best in people. As Zach and I faced his blindness together we grew closer and stronger. He NEEDED me more then ever before as he tried to navigate this dark new world he was living in.
Right after Dakota’s accident we grew even more closer as we clung together in hope that our little boy would come out on top. When we realized we weren’t getting our little boy back and as we faced the daily hardships of blindness and brain injury…the emotions, the pain, the stress, the lack of sleep was all too much! We grieved differently from one another. He wanted to tell me daily about all of his pain, anger, frustrations, worries, fears, and stress and I didn’t want to hear it. I was hurting myself and I couldn’t take on his pain too!! Their was a lot of tension. We were both emotionally on edge at ALL times so the littlest of things would cause us to blow up at each other! We both still loved each other deeply but their were times when I couldn’t handle being around him because of the anger he sometimes felt…which is a totally normal part of grieving…but it doesn’t mean it is easy to watch and live with.
We have both come SO far individually and as a couple since our darkest of days as we waded through these unknown and VERY unexpected paths. We have seen each other at our weakest points AND at our strongest and I believe that as hard as that was…that it was also what has brought as closer together as a couple!! The thing that truly saved our marriage during those difficult days…in my opinion…was we never stopped doing the little things together. The things that we are told over and over to do that kind of get old hearing about. Even when I was SO frustrated or bugged at him…or he was so angry and upset…we still prayed together, read our scriptures together, went on dates together (weekly at that time because of his awesome parents who knew how badly we needed to be alone), went to church together, and attended the temple together. It wasn’t always easy…and their were definite times when neither of us felt like praying one more prayer for help…thinking that Heavenly Father knows and obviously doesn’t care…but we said it! Those little things that we did TOGETHER even when we didn’t feel like being in the same room together…saved us!! And over time as we allowed the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ to enter into our broken life and start to heal our broken hearts, lift our HEAVY burdens, and bring light, hope, and even JOY back into our lives…we healed, grew, and learned together…still at different rates!!
If you asked either of us right this very minute…we would both tell you we are happier then we have EVER been in our whole married life together! Which totally blows my mind BECAUSE…our trials are still here with us daily. Zach is STILL blind, Dakota is STILL brain injured, life is STILL hard but we are happy as EVER!!! I truly believe with all of my heart…the greater the sorrow you feel in your life…the greater your ability to feel joy is! I feel a type of joy I didn’t know existed. I delight in the simplest of things that I once took for granted….and I owe it ALL to the intense pain that I once felt!!!
As I have watched Zach rise above ALL that he has experienced and faced and do things that are truly remarkable for any man…especially a blind man…my love and admiration for him has deepened.
I often forget that he is even blind because of all that he does. His latest product that he has developed to launch on Kickstarter soon has been SOOOO much work, time, and effort. I didn’t even realize what a little “closet” genius he was until I sat in at meetings with him (since I have to drive him to them) with manufacturing companies and printing companies. I listen to their conversations and feel like they are speaking a whole other language and then I wonder…“how does Zach know all of this?” He didn’t go to school for engineering or product development…he got a sales degree for heavens sake!! But I sit their and listen to these professionals in these areas telling him what a great idea this was, they had never thought of this, what a great job he has done at figuring out materials and design and that they themselves are unsure how to make it better!! It literally blows my mind!! Not only does he do all of this on his own…but he does it blind!!! And trust me…I am NO help to him at all!! I can barely think about what I have to do that day to survive, let alone think of, design, and produce a new product!!!!!
So what is this product he has created and what is this Kickstarter I am always talking about?? (I told you I would tell you! ;))
First of all…if you aren’t familiar with Kickstarter…it is a crowdfunding website that allows creators (inventors) and backers (consumers) to work together to launch and fund a new product or business without the help of angel investors and venture capitalists. Project creators set a funding goal and a deadline before their launch begins and then basically PRE-SELL their product in hopes of reaching their funding goal by the deadline. If people like a project, they can pledge money (purchase the product) to make it happen. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing which means if the funding goal is not reached, then the "backer's" card is never charged and the creator receives no funding. If the goal is reached, the creator receives the funding for initial start-up costs and his "backers" are the first to receive the new product when it's ready. To learn more go to www.kickstarter.com.
His new company name is called The Germavoid Company and his first product he will be launching on Kickstarter is called the Clean Touch.
For those of you who know Zach…you know he doesn’t like public germs!! He is constantly using his pinky to open doors, elbow to push buttons, and foot to flush toilets. He did his research and found out that he wasn’t the only person that did this (I thought he was ;)). He found out that 82% of people regularly try to avoid touching public surfaces with their bare hands. (I guess I’m the weird one who doesn’t! ;)) So he created a compact, convenient, and innovative product that allows you to touch germy public surfaces without touching all the germs. It conveniently attaches to your keys so it goes wherever you go and it's innovative design makes it quick, easy, and discreet to use.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you much more about his product or show you the amazing pictures of it because he is wanting to wait to release all of the details about how it works until the launch on Kickstarter because we have created a video that tells about it better then words alone can describe. Our launch date for Kickstarter is HOPEFULLY middle to end of February…so SOON…so stay tuned!! It is SOOOO much work to get ready because SO much is on the line!! It is nerve-wracking to put your idea out there…spend so much money and time on it…and not have any idea what others will think or how it will go!!
So my job in all of this Kickstarter process…besides being his main assistant, is to spread the word as far and wide as I can about it…since Zach is THE LEAST social media man alive!!! So I am asking for anyone who reads this post to help me…because I am SOOOO afraid to fail!! Kickstarter success comes from spreading the word and driving traffic to your page. You can have the greatest product (which I think he does…but of course I’m biased! ;)) but you can still fail if you can’t get the word out about it and drive people to your page to learn about it. So, if anyone AND everyone who reads this would be willing to share our Kickstarter link on social media, email, blogs, WHATEVER once we launch we would appreciate it more then you will EVER know! I would even kiss your feet if I know you! ;) (If they are clean of course!! ;))
Also if anyone knows of BIG bloggers, social media, news people, anyone who you think could help us…even if we have to pay for their advertising please let me know!! I feel like a beginner myself to all of this social media advertising and I could use ALL the advice I can get to help Zach make his dream become a reality. Obviously we don’t want people to back our project if they don’t like the product and I’m totally not asking just for donations BUT we want to help share the word about it as much as we can so that those who would truly be interested in this product can learn about it and buy it!! So any suggestions are appreciated as we venture into this unknown scary world!!
We have a Facebook page The Germavoid Company, and an Instagram and Twitter account @germavoid that you can follow along for all the details. (I will do my best to keep this blog updated too although we all know how great of a blogger I am these days! ;))
THANK YOU THANK YOU in advance for any and all help! Even some prayers offered up in our behalf would be greatly appreciated!!!
