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Thingish Things

Kevin Lawler, Where Courage Meets Faith

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 29•12

A lot of Americans are down on their luck these days, but few have had to endure the unexpected knocks of life that Kevin Lawler has over the past four years.

Two-thousand-eight was to be a promising year for the Rockland County, NY husband and father.  That was the year the former Merrill Lyncher opened his own financial services firm.  Two months after its doors opened, world markets collapsed. Mr. Lawler’s family’s life savings were soon after stolen by a Ponzi schemer — they lost virtually everything — forcing him and his wife to sell their homes — just as he learned that he had Multiple Sclerosis, severe bouts of which took away his ability to walk and speak. He fought back time and again in a physical rehab center to re-learn how to walk, only to find out last year that he had Stage Three cancer, all at the age of 51.

Mr. Lawler, the father of a work colleague, is seen speaking here at a church in Piermont, NY. Strikingly missing from his remarks is any hint of bitterness. Indeed, he exudes an utter sense of serenity, far more than so many of us with jobs, homes, and good health do. 

I’d appreciate those of you who get something out of Kevin’s talk to pass it along. He and his story are worth more people knowing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTzAy8zgxqw

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2 Comments

  1. william schneider says:

    Good Lord, what a remarkably brave story which I can relate to very much — 2 diseases we have in common and one that I worry about constantly due to my family history. What I don’t have is his courage, his grace, his faith, his peace — those are the things I wish for and pray for. I thought I was a grateful alcoholic, I’m a fledgling at best. I can only pray for God to do his will for Kevin. He is automatically in my prayer chain. I see that he had Gamma Knife too, probably at Northern Westchester Hospital so I know where this is going and I pray that he gets there in no pain. When we see patients and we know, I always try extra hard to be kind and understanding and I always say a prayer for them. This has made me do what the camera person was doing throughout so I will stop wrinting and just sit.

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