Friends,

I would like to share some experiences I have had with a very special person, Rudy Park of Redmond, OR. He has taught me more about mental toughness than anyone I have ever met.

Rudy grew up in the hard scrabble volcanic country of eastern OR. He was small so he wanted to prove himself by wrestling and playing football. He had a good saddle horse but could not afford a car so he used to ride 20 miles to his GFs house and back 20 miles in the dark. He rode bare-back horses and bulls for fun and once won against Larry Mahan. Rudy became a smokejumber with the USFS and fought fires for many years, when one day it occurred to him that the smart guys flew slurry bombers and did not carry 75 lb. packs. He flew firetankers in Alaska for 10 years, with winters in Mexico. Got a business degree from U of O. Bought a sailboat and sailed to Hawaii and married a brilliant Hawaiian attorney named Cheryl. Moved to Europe living in Holland and an island off of France.

Rudy has had more injuries than any 10 people I know. (He also was on the US ski team while in France). If you meet him you will not forget him. He is in his mid 60s, but if there is work to be done, he will show up first and leave last. Under duress he tells jokes and lifts everyone's morale. If he meet sales people in a store, he oftern gets Christmas cards from them months later.

He never complains, and always volunteers with friends who have serious medical problems. We all need to have a friend like Rudy who has seen the dark side of life in war, big forest fires, multiple major injuries, friends with terminal diseases and comes out much stronger and more optimistic than before.