Uncommon Sense: An Honest Perspective on Relationships Gone Bad

I was driven to write this book out of my concern for the stories I read almost daily about someone who was at the same crossroad I was, and resorted to desperate measures because they could not handle the reality of their break-up. The man in Maryland, who killed his ex-wife, his kids and then himself; that bewildered woman in Detroit, who set her son ablaze because she was going to lose custody of him to her ex-husband; that lost soul in Jacksonville, who shot himself in the head because his girlfriend of four years decided she wanted to see someone else. Unfortunately, I could go on and on because there are many horrifying stories being created even as you are reading this book. I want people with similar dilemmas to know and understand that they are not alone. A crossroad does not define them as a person, and there is a light, as dim as it may be now, shining brightly at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully if you are considering a desperate act, I can help you understand, that is not the answer. You share company with some of the most successful, powerful and prolific people on the planet. When it comes down to it, whether you are wealthy or homeless, the one thing that we all have in common is pain. So allow me to share what I have learned and try to shed some light on this dark subject of break ups, betrayal and heartache. Hopefully my sincere efforts can do a small part in making this beautiful world of ours a better place to win and lose at this unpredictable game of love.

I decided to write this book after a life changing experience with a beautiful woman who also happens to be the mother of my children. You see I probably would have never conceived the notion of writing a book had it not been for that experience. I was 25 years old and had just become a father. After my discharge from the Marines, I enjoyed a few years of easy living in sunny southern California. I moved back home to Jacksonville, Florida, and managed to do something I had not done in all the years up to that point; fall in love. Not puppy love, but the deepest love I have ever known. The writing was on the wall and I had made up my mind that this was the woman that I was going to marry. I was working at a world famous bottling company, and was well on my way to what was forming into a fairy tale career, when out of nowhere, I got hit with the biggest blow of my adult life. I woke up to the reality that I was in a relationship that was going bad. After I tried a lot of things to save the relationship, I had to face the reality that it was over. I will admit that I made some mistakes that were common for any relationship that develops over a period of years, but my worst mistakes were made out of desperation once I realized that I could not salvage the relationship. This experience forced me to realize just how compelling love and relationships are, and that no one, including myself, was immune to its powerful grip.