Coleman Ruiz

I got in the cab and I left.

And I remember thinking...

You might have it, but I don't.

Because that's the old days.

We were prepared for this shit.

I was still convinced.

that I'm good, like nothing happened to me.

Nothing in the military happened to me.

That's just normal stuff.

And all of our training, it's a story I told myself, all of our training prepared me for that.

Like this, the rest of my life is just gonna, nothing bad's gonna happen because I'm good, whatever that meant.

And when I started to learn more and read more and talk to people who were helping me,

I remember Buddy telling me that.

And back to those return stages, Andrew, it's just incredibly important for me to understand that my journey is not special.

We are part of a long history of evolution that people who go through very challenging... I mean, the 17 stages in Joseph could not be more accurate to my life, particularly the return.

It's a framework.

It certainly taught me something.

You know, probably the entry, Andrew, is as important, you know, meaning it's not all about books, but this is actually another thing I've really learned.

You know, I was very intellect and achievement central.

And as you can see how easy the emotion comes out now, I kind of very frighteningly understand people who like feel stuff a lot more.