Fear

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein.

It was 12/7/89. I was 44 years old. My wife was pregnant with our son and I took a walk near midnight to pick up a pizza for the two of us. Before I knew it, a handgun was pointed at me. 

The good Lord gave me enough peace not to panic. The gunman and his companion in a truck next to us took my pizza and the remaining seven dollars, leaving me shaken, alive, and still praying. That defined for me the pain of sudden change.