It was one of those Monday evenings. It was about three minutes before closing, and to say I was under pressure would be a slight understatement. Not that I was under any pressure, but in some way I really was. I was a writer without a story. I was going to write an article in two hours, and I had no story, no person, and no idea what I would be writing on. It is on that note that I left my store. It was on that note that five minutes after leaving, I did a quick u- turn and headed back to my store. It was one of those rock 'em and roll 'em "I can't believe I didn't notice this week's featured story-featured, super hero" right away. As I was leaving the store for the first time, I was in the midst of one of those all too familiar conversations, or so I thought. I wasn't thinking of anything really special, nothing really earth-shattering, and I certainly didn't feel like I knew what to write about. It was a type of conversation you wouldn't even think twice about. What caused me to turn around was not the conversation, not the fact that this gentleman has been coming to our store for the past month, consistently. It was not the fact that everyday he was coming in, he was sharing just a little more about himself. He shared that he lost 30 pounds. He shared that he is open to a new lifestyle. He shared that he did not want to wind up like his relatives, and all beat up by the pharmaceutical regime. These were the same words I heard from, not only from him, but over an over from customers, from strangers, and from nearly anyone for over 50 years. It is a story that rings out as the calling cry of a nation in need of a major renovation, starting from the inside out. What makes this story so unique is that this man did something drastic to break the chains of redundancy of poor health and from overly medicating himself. It is a story about him beginning life anew. What makes this story so non-typical is that it caused me to stop mid-stream on my way home, and drive back to my store to do an interview on this man. Richard and his story which is so typical of the raw lifestyle, so dramatically life changing, so extraordinary result oriented, so true to our human innate wisdom, that I had no choice in the matter but to write about him. It is on this note that I chose Richard as this week's raw hero.

It began at a raw potluck gathering at the home of Lisa Montgomery. There was good food, good conversation, and there was also a speaker specializing in senior adult health specializing in what supplements to take, what test to take, what lifestyle to live as you grow older in the nontraditional ways. She knew her ways what worked for her, and what worked for those on the program--or so she thought. She knew what she had to say, what she had to prove, and what she expected from the so-called typical mainstream thought process. What she didn't expect was that those in the audience would be one step beyond that thought process. What she didn't know or expect was that growing old should not and will not be expected as a necessary process in the due part of aging. What she didn't know or expect was that once someone is on a raw food lifestyle, that taking most medications and supplements are no longer necessary. What she didn't know or expect was the eloquence of some of those who change to a raw lifestyle, who simply stopped taking the drugs and medication, and began getting real results in not only stopping the aging process, but also reversing it.

I was one of the privileged members in the audience as heard Richard speak up time after time expressing himself, not only in eloquence, but in a heart-felt manner that ripple giant waves of "Whoa" to all in attendance. What he stated is something that was already known to those in the know. What Richard stated that he, too, was once a believer in the American medical system, that he, too, would have had at one time tried the supplement path as per lecture, but that he thought that was then, and this is now. He knew deep down there was still a better option. It was his openness and willingness to learn, and finally his quest for truth that drove giant icicles of titanium mass force to move anyone who heard him that night. What I heard that night is and has been my same battle cry for the years past and the years to come. Once Richard realized what is inside the medication, what's inside the supplements, what is the infinite wisdom within these pills that drives them through 98,000 miles of arteries, and what are the negative effects they had done to his body, he did what any intelligent man of deep understanding of how life works would do. He simply stopped taking all of his medications for Diabetes, Type II which he had been taking for five years. He stated out loud and clear to everyone in the audience, that he no longer believed in the system. He stated out loud and clear, that he didn't want to take any supplements because he didn't believe in pills. He wanted real food as his path to health. He wanted real food as his medication. He began to believe in the Hippocratic Oath, "Let food be your medicine. Let medicine be your food." It was that simple and that easy for Richard, and in no uncertain terms, whether realizing it or not, he felt that he had to make a stand for the cure for Diabetes type II. He had no huge grant. He had no medical background. He was just a simple man who wanted to be healthy, disease free, and to live a healthy life.

Richard's new beginning, as per this conversation, began about four months ago. At that time, he was 40 years old, had been on medication for Diabetes Type II for five years and was also taking high blood pressure and cholesterol medication. It was with that understanding that he did what everybody else in the family did. He watched his father die about four years ago. He watched his mother suffer with all types of illness and being treated with all types of medications. It was just so easy for them to take a pill for this condition and that condition. It was just so easy listening to the doctor as the end of all answers as to what causes disease. Richard felt there was no other way at that time. Until his brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and almost died, Richard was the one that to drive him to the hospital. Richard was the one who was watching his brother in a medical situation right before his eyes, and he knew there was nothing he could do. Richard waited in the emergency room and waited. This, my friends, was Richard's turning point. Richard realized that he, too, could be next. Richard, at the young age of 40, knew there was more to life than just working and taking medication. He waited in the Emergency room praying for his brother, praying for himself, and realizing to himself that there must be a better way to live. Richard's brother made it through the night and was released. It was in this moment of crisis, not only for his brother, but for himself, that Richard made the decision to wean himself off of all of his medications. He literally did it on his own with no doctors, and with no alternative physicians. This method, however, is not something I would not recommend for anyone to do with no assistance from anybody, but his own Higher Self.

Richard, at the tender age of 40, began his new life. He started doing yoga, bought an elliptical machine, started changing his dietary lifestyle habits, and for some odd reason began drinking green smoothies. What happened in the months to follow was that after weaning off of his high blood pressure and cholesterol medications, his joint pain disappeared. He lost 30 pounds in just four months, and he was feeling great. These were the words he spoke to those in the audience that fateful Saturday night. These were the incredulous words of truth spoken so eloquently and with deep heart-felt emotions that it became my impetus to write about Richard's experience for this week's newsletter. This is Richard's story as I remembered it to share with those that read this. This is my hope for everyone that they may realize Richard's truth as their own. I thank you for your time.

I thank Richard for allowing me to share his story.