A Dream That Became a Passion
Dear Marcia,
The person that I thought of when I saw your contest is not anyone rich or famous, quite frankly he's just down to earth. It's my nephew, Tim Sutphin. I've had the pleasure of watching him achieve his dream not only once, but twice. Tim is a 40-year old husband and father of two young sons. He lost his own dad to a sudden, massive heart attack about 8 years ago. Tim was very close to his dad and spent a lot of time in the evenings, tooling around in their garage. I believe in the time spent with his dad, he learned more about 'life and love' than working on old cars!
Not long after Tim lost his dad, he was faced with losing his job in the technology field, once again. As a young man who had to work very hard in college to finally get his degree, this was very disappointing to him and scary, I imagine. At that point in Tim's life he began to pursue what most of the family perceived as job change that would provide more security. What I saw, as his 'wiser aunt :)' was a young man embarking on a dream journey. Tim was about to become a police officer! He began to train himself in preparation for the police academy. He'd been a rather large football player in high school and unfortunately most of his rips had turned to flab. He started running, lifting weights and eating healthy. He went on to the academy and actually became the leader of his class. He graduated from the academy and become a county police officer. Tim took his responsibilities as an office extremely seriously. He studied thick manuals and became dedicated to his new position as a defender of the citizens. After several years with his local county police force he continued to be overlooked for promotions. He never complained, just questioned, why not me? After many times of receiving excuses from his captain, he began to pursue a position on his local city police force. Tim had been turned down by them initially, but he decided to give it another shot. He began the interview process and waited patiently for an offer. It finally came and recently he resigned from the county and moved to the smaller, local city police force in the town where he and his family reside.
I would love to see Tim recognized as a dreamer, because in spite of discouragement from his own family to become a police officer, he pursued his dream. He gave up what he studied in college in addition to a huge pay cut to do what he was most passionate about. Tim and his wife, Kelly are great parents and active members of their church. They have proved to those around them that pursuing your dream and passion makes you happier than just earning a decent income. Tim is a sweet man and a genuine listener to anyone he meets. He would be blown away to know that I took time out of my busy schedule to write this bio on him and to recommend him for this contest. My dream is for you to meet him and become his friend...you would surely be blessed by him!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!
By:Linda Gould