Our Good Friend, Joe Sipe

We lost a good friend last Saturday due to a motorcycle accident. It was something very unexpected, though we never expect something like this to happen. I’m not necessarily asking for sorrowed hearts but that you just keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He was a good guy and he left his beautiful 2 year son, J.J., behind. It’s been hard, but keeping my chin up and searching for the positives is my best hope right now. I thank you for all your condolences.

Here is the poem that I wrote and dedicated at his funeral:

Hey Joe, my good friend

How are ya doin’ now?

We still miss you like crazy

Though you’re in heaven smiling down.

It’s hard not to dwell on

Why you had to leave us

But I try to tell myself over

You were an angel sent back to Jesus.

Now you’re in our drivers seat

To watch over us every day

You were always here for us before you left

And I don’t think that will ever change.

Now my mind keeps remembering these moments

And all the things you use to do

Just like those bare butt spankins

Never thought I’d miss those too.

Then there were also those times

That we will for sure never forget

Wakeboarding on those sunny days

And going on our cabin trips.

You were here for “the boys”

And you taught us so much

You gave us your pearls

And those we will forever clutch.

But there is one thing we still can’t understand

Why little J.J. had to be left behind

And though that question can’t be answered

I think it’s our time to help him shine.

We’ll always be there to help him know

The father-like image you were to us

We’ll remind him how lucky he was to have

A father like you who loved him so much.

Bud, we’re going to miss you every day

And it’s hard to believe that you’re really gone

But I know you’ll be there to always protect us

You’re our guardian angel from here on.

We’ll keep you in our hearts and thoughts

For you made an impact to the ones you knew

We hope you’re happy where you’re at now

And we all want you to know that we love you.

A Soldier’s Prayer

Here is a poem that is new to the collection. Please enjoy it and I feel it came out great!

Soldier Before God
By: Ryan Pedigo

The soldier stood and faced his God, Which must always come to pass…
He hoped his shoes were shining, Just as brightly as his brass.
“Step forward now, you soldier, How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek? To My Church have you been true?”
The soldier squared his shoulders and said,”No, Lord, I guess I ain’t…
Because those of us who carry guns, Can’t always be a saint.
I’ve had to work most Sundays, And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I’ve been violent, Because the streets are awfully rough.
But I never took a penny, That wasn’t mine to keep…
Though I worked a lot of overtime, When the bills just got too steep,
And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me, I’ve wept unmanly tears.
I know I don’t deserve a place, Among the people here…
They never wanted me around, Except to calm their fears.
If you’ve a place for me here, Lord, It needn’t be so grand,
I never expected or had too much, But if you don’t, I’ll understand.”
There was a silence all around the throne, Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly, For the judgment of his God,
“Step forward now you soldier,
Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
You’ve done your time in Hell,
And that’s all that needs to be.”

New Baby Girl! :)

Yep!!! That’s right, I got (or am getting) a new motorcycle Saturday. It is rather awesome, and looks beautiful. It’s going to be my new girl! I got to ride it today (Sunday) and she rode good. Can’t wait for this week to go by. Check out the pictures below…

Expensive Toys

I’ve always been one to have toys..no not the micromachines (though I did have those too) but the actual toys that cost in the thousands. And no, you may think I’m spoiled, well if working hard and buying them for yourself is included in that, then I would consider myself spoiled.

Anyhow, ever since I got my 2003 Roush Staged Mustang I wanted to do some work on it, mostly just the looks. And so, after a year, that has been my biggest project lately, and I must say it is coming along quite good. You may have, or may not have, heard the term “Murdered” out, but it basically means totally blacking out your already painted black car; this includes black rims, black tinted windows, black tinted head and tail lights, and every other piece on the outside of the car black. Like I said, blacking it out.

So far I have had some pretty good progress. I have successfully blacked out my tail lights, powder coated my once chrome rims to flat black, recently ordered my blacked out head lights, and just sent my polished billet aluminum grill to my friends power coating shop…to have it painted black. I’m doing pretty good so far, and after I have these last few parts assembled, I will simply need to just tint my two front windows, and add the tint strip to the windshield. It has been a pretty exciting process seeing how much different each individual piece makes the car look, and am totally excited for the day of completion.

I will be posting pictures as soon as I get most of the car finished, or at least until I get this last few parts on. Then I will also post more after the windows are tinted. I haven’t had a fun little project like this in awhile, so it’s definitely kept me looking forward to something!

P.S. I’m a rebel towards the no-tinting-your-front-windows and no-blacking-out-your-head-and-tail-lights. Oh well, it wouldn’t be any fun if you listened.

Post-Surgery

I had my surgery a little while back, about a week and a half. It has relatively gone good and easy. After hearing many of the different rumors and opinions about others’ ACL reconstruction surgeries, I have to say I was sweatin’ it a little bit. I guess everyone is different though, and for me, it is probably the most serious surgery I have had, but one of the least painful. Now my next step is to see just how long it takes me to rehabilitate to normal. I’m already able to walk on it, which is pretty crazy, and I have some movement. Nowhere near what I had before or what I should have regularly, but not bad for a start! So, as for the surgery it went well, but there was a bit more damage then the doctor had expected. Instead of just having an ACL cadaver put in and reconstruction on my medial meniscus by suturing it up, they also had to fix up the lateral meniscus. The lateral was a bit more serious and messed up and they could only trim it up. The knee was full of water and blood from swelling, but afterwards everything seemed to go good! I have my first post-surgery doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning, and I’m just crossing my fingers that he’ll see what he should expect and get me moving along at a good rate. Oh, and also, finally of these damn crutches! Wish me luck.

Good Ole Surgery

So, it’s that time again. Well again I guess for me, since this is the 4th surgery I’ve had to repair some type of injury; not to mention I’m only 19 years of age. Yeah, I seem accident proned, with having already around 15 broken bones, 6 concussions (2 of those knock outs), dislocations, sprains, and now a ligament tear of the ACL. That’s what this next surgery is suppose to accomplish, replacing my ACL (actually I have no ACL left, it has been totally shattered and there’s only fibers), fixing my meniscus, and I guess reconstructing the knee a little.

Now I don’t get all these injuries from sitting on my butt of course, but most from when I raced motocross. Of course, this injury is too from messing around on a motorcycle. Definitely hard to leave that sport though, as for injuries don’t phase me too much. They usually will all heal after some amount of time! But I guess this is the most serious one I’ve had so far, as the expected minimum healing time is at least 6 months. And that isn’t  even considered fully healed. Since the ACL has very limited blood flow it’s hard for it to heal and takes quite some time.

So, I guess this is the most worthless I am going to feel for the next few months. I’m one that is really stubborn and doesn’t like to take anything ‘easy.’ I’m really going to have to do my best to keep off of it, and let it do its thing before I try to mess anything else up again.

Anyways, my surgery is set for Thursday, June 19. I’m not sure what time, but visitors are always welcome to come visit when I get home! Definitely will help to keep my spirits high. Thanks!

Welcome!

Hey everyone, just welcoming you to my new blog and portfolio. Lost the password to my old one and didn’t feel like making a whole new one, so I decided to take the easy way and have a pre-made one! Anyways, I’ll start adding in content soon!