Thank you for sharing some of your life with me. You have a beautiful wife and two lovely daughters.

The blueberry site looks wonderful. I love blueberries. I’ve made a lot of blueberry pancakes in my day while raising my three boys.

Yes, the pangs of parenting. It definitely continues on past the “required” eighteen years of age. My husband and I just spent a week with our three boys and it was wonderful.

I’ve got a very special video I hope to get up with my 21 year old playing a very special Schubert piece. Listening to my son Rob play the piano has always had such a soothing effect on me. It’s definitely been a great way for me to defrag. I hope one of these days he recorded a bunch of pieces for me.

And then there’s David with his electric guitar and drum set. I like that too.

One last thing. The prayer part. Yes. Always.

Ann

Oh those dreaded moments that pull at the heart-strings!

I have a son 4, and a girl almost 2 and you can see their pics at my renegade site http://robertpeil.com and I would like to share a sliver of advice (from Dad) that I do fall back on in those dark moments:

Here is the loving advice of an Oregon pioneer mother when her son (my dad) put the question to her after I was born:

(…a young fathers first call for help…)

Q: “Mom, I want to be the best father. what’s your advice?”

A: “Son, just do one thing:

PRAY UNTIL THEY’RE THIRTY!”

Back then, if an Oregonian farm-boy reaches 30 and hasn’t got killed by himself or his brothers by then, mother did her job.

Just listen to a few of my Dad’s boy-hood stories on the Glendale farm and you’ll understand…

I still have grandmas advice tucked away in the “emergency” dept. in my mind.

***

Ann, your story just brought us all that next step closer- the glue that binds all networks together:

Caring.

Just as I went to my wife for help. We got together to crack down on finding our niche. ANY niche! So we can get started. She cared.

We don’t want to be left behind in the renegade success.

So guess what? She has a simple passion!

We went for it! NEVER done stuff like this before.
As Mike teaches us to be sure to celebrate on even the smallest steps of progress…

So take a peek at our humble beginnings:

http://sarahs-blueberry-recipes.com

Robert and Sarah

What an amazing story! I believe David got resourceful because of his teachings at home. And he’s a courageous fellow to hook up with strangers. All in all, I’m sure it was a great lesson for him.

I’m glad he’s safe and life is back to normal.

Thanks for sharing.

Ligia

Thanks so much for sharing this has been a very valuable lesson. I’m so glad Andrew was ok and that he was able to get back home safely. It is very important to build realationships all over the world.

I am looking forward to more of your videos.

Cheers,

Charlotte

I loved your video, not only because it was so compelling, but also because of the professional presentation skills you demonstrated so aptly: 1. You had an interesting story to tell; 2. Your video was genuine with no fluff and it was obvious that you spoke from your heart with great sincereity; 3. You turned a potentially heart stopping moment in your life in to a powerful metaphore and teaching/learning opportunity – the power of your Network, be it family network, network of friends, colleagues or contacts; 4. Your technical presentation skills were masterful, since you spoke clearly with great inflection of your voice (probably your angst helped) and you introduced your subject masterfully, using the photo of your son as a prop – it would have made any toast master proud; and 5. Also important, your video backdrop had no distractions allowing the audience to focus on what you had to say and not on other things i.e. no kids jumping into a pool or pictures hanging on walls, or TV’s with audio in the background. This is a great video – a keeper!!

PS: I’m also very happy that things turned out so well.

With warmest regards and genuine admiration,

Hans Lussenburg

As a father & stepfather of 6 adult children (ages 24 thru 28), I still even at their ages get nervous about the things they do, where they go etc. But what keeps me sane and the new growth of gray hairs on my head down to a minimum (LOL!) is prayer. Not a day goes by that I don’t pray for any of them. Prayer plus a strong coordinated support system is always a good thing to have. I know as a parent you had to be praying (I know I’d be). To God Be The Glory he is safe and sound. My prayers are always with you and the entire Sieg family.

That’s an interesting experience. I am a mother

of five children. I have experienced the worst

scenario where one did not come back. Happy for you.