At one point during the party Amber gathered everyone around to toast to the birthday boy. Ken is a very successful attorney originally from Detroit, who owns a firm that operates out of six states, is on the Executive Board of a youth mentoring program called Link Unlimited, but most importantly is a music aficionado that thinks he can bust a freestyle rhyme like no other. So, Amber called him out on the spot and he delivered a rap that was on point. After the toast, someone decided that the fellas should all jump in the pool…with our clothes on. I really didn’t take the idea seriously until I saw my friend Mark do a back-flip landing squarely in the center of pool. And then, one by one, guys started jumping in. Clearly this was not on my agenda that evening, especially since I was decked out in my “all-white” gear, but something told me to step outside my comfort zone that night. At that moment, I decided that life is too short to not take advantage of a special moment and thought “F*%k it! Just jump in the pool. So I did! And it was the most liberating thing that I have done in a long time. We were all soaked and wet, in the pool with our clothes on, and it was a blast. We bonded over something so silly and crazy, but it was beautiful.
We all got out and made our way over to the jacuzzi, still with our clothes on. We sat around the hot tub, did shots of whiskey and toasted once again to the birthday boy. At some point shortly after, we climbed out of the jacuzzi I overheard someone mention the story that Ken told everyone during his 50th birthday dinner in Vegas. It was about why he walked with a noticeable limp and how he survived cancer as a teenager. I always knew he was a special guy, but this story blew me away. So that night I learned about his battle with cancer, which brought my jumping into the pool with my clothes on full circle. I asked Ken to share his story with our readers that is both harrowing and inspirational and I hope you find yourself saying F*%k it! to something that will take you out of your comfort zone and jumping into a proverbial pool.