I’d like to write this alternating segments with someone perhaps.

  1. young man experiences tragic death of father — there is a hole in his identity.
  2. he patches over the hole with athletics, but is injured.
  3. he fills this void by entering the military shortly after september 11th.
  4. a friend dies in his arms; he escapes by chance
  5. he returns home after two tours of duty and joins a church; meets the love of his life; has a child
  6. his child dies of cancer — loses the identity of father: a role thickly plastered over his other losses (gaping holes).
  7. escapes into alcohol — on the verge of suicide he has a defining moment — casts aside all the layers of loss and broken identity.
  8. becomes a peaceful shell