I watched the 134th Kentucky Derby this evening as is my usual tradition to officially start thinking about the three weeks of Indy Car racing that we’re gearing up for this coming week. It was a good race in which Big Brown won, but after the race, runner-up Eight Belles collapsed and was euthanized (a.k.a. “put to sleep”) on the track. Man, I’m glad that my kids weren’t in the living room when that happened and I probably would have changed the channel the moment they showed the horse lying on the track (anyone who knows even a little bit about horses knows that’s not a good thing). I know that it happens, but that is still truly sad to see. (And I’m just waiting to see what PETA has to say.)

Anyway, I’m getting excited about the track opening up and am looking forward to the Indy 500 and festivities. The month of May is quite exciting around here. And I’m praying that we avoid any tragedy ourselves here…that’s been plenty of that through the years.

Today I begin writing Volume 3 of my musings, now titled Never Picture Perfect and subtitled the musings of Brian Groce. The title is a nod to Rich Mullins and sums up most of my posts and my observations of life pretty well.

Also, let me note that this volume comes into existence due to extremely somber and heartbreaking circumstances. My wife and I lost and laid to rest our fourth child in the past week and a half. I am not ready to publicly share much more than that at this time, but as you read my blog from this point forward that knowledge will help make some things I’ll say make more sense.

That said, here’s the breakdown of my five and a half years of musings…

Volume 1: October 10th, 2002 – August 5th, 2006

• 578 Posts.
• Written after college during my first (and only) “real world” job.
• The last month of which was written after I was laid off.
• The births of my first two children occurred during in this period.
• My Age: 24-28.
• This volume has been archived and made private.

Volume 2: August 7th, 2006 – April 5th, 2008

• 214 Posts.
• Written during the period when Watershed Studio became my full-time job.
• Many new projects came into being during this period.
• The birth of my third child occurred during in this period.
• The birth and death of my fourth child occurred in this period.
• My Age: 28-30.
• This volume has been incorporated into Never Picture Perfect, at least for the time being.

Volume 3: April 12th, 2008 -

• This is where we are today.
• The tone will probably be slightly different as I make my way through dealing with the loss of my son. Don’t be surprised if I’m silent where I once was vocal. My perspective on life and what really matters in the grand scheme of things is changing…which of course will lead to similar, but different, musings.
• My Age: 30- .