A Note to Self

Note to Self is an insight into the thoughts of a young man faced with the greatest challenge of his life - facing death.

Johnny intended this to be a published book and asked Karen Orrio as his friend and writer to help him edit and ensure that his family received a copy in his memory. He told her "This is probably one of the most important things I would like to accomplish in my life." Unfortunately his life did not last long enough to allow him to finish and have it published.

However, as a tribute to waht he was able to accomplish in the short time he was afforded, Karen kept her promise to him. Even though it is in an unfinished state he included his "to do" list at the end for you to get a sense of his thought process and to see for yourself what he was trying to accomplish. Within the narrative itself Karen put ellipses idicating where his thoughts trailed off, kept each chapter as it, regardless of whether there was a list of ideas that he was hoping to later return to write, or whether there was any content written at all. It's all there. Karen did not want to presume or assume what he would have liked to commuicate, but rather leave that up to you to fill in the blanks, for your own individual interpretation.

Johnny was concerned more about how his loved ones would handle his loss than the loss of his own life. So as his friend and "messenger" as he asked Karen to be, she is following Johnny's wishes.

We are deeply thankful to Karen Orrio for helping Johnny accomplish this book.

Johnny J. Frederick - September 9, 1992 to October 3, 2018