Back in 2008, I started having trouble catching my breath. I felt like I was moving through sludge, and the smallest effort just plain wore me out. For the first time in my life, I felt like an old man. So I went to see some doctors, and then some more.
Eventually I had that moment, face to face with a man wearing a stethoscope as he tells me that it might be time to get my affairs in order, that my heart would not last much longer.
I tried to do just that. I began the process of saying goodbye to my staff, my fans, my sculptures. I held a press conference and announced that we would be closing our doors in January of 2009. And then an amazing thing happened.
I didn't die. Funny thing - the response from my customers and my community gave me the strength to keep going. Then my youngest daughter, Vanessa Garman, offered to take over the day to day operation of the business, allowing me to get the rest I needed.
"Rest? Who needs rest?" I asked while gulping for breath. Sure enough
, the voice of that stubborn fool I'd always been started talking into my ear - "Why spend your time thinking about tomorrow and what might be coming? You've got things to do today. And stories to tell. You've got sculptures - dozens of sculptures - still waiting for you to create."
