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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
CHICAGO — When Kyle Collins became a father, he started writing down life lessons he thought would be important to his two daughters. Those lessons turned into a published book, “Wherever You Go There You Are” that was released earlier this year.
“If I got hit by a proverbial bus that took me out, this book is a compilation of several life lessons I would want them to live by even if I wasn’t around to model it for them,” Kyle said. “Once I finished chapter 3, I thought ‘dang, this is good info- I need to put it out to more than just my girls.’ And here we are.”
Some of the topics include self-worth versus self-doubt, discipline, forgiveness, and leaving a positive legacy for your family. His daughters are ages 3-years-old and 9-months-old.
Kyle is a 2005 graduate of Mason County Eastern High School. His wife, Ditte Primdahl, was a foreign exchange student from Denmark who also attended MCE. Kyle graduated from Saginaw Valley State University with a bachelor’s degree and then earned a doctor of chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa. The couple lived in several locations in the U.S. and Europe as Ditte served in neuro-oncology residencies and medical fellowship programs. They now live in Chicago where she is an attending neuro-oncologist physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Much of the content in the book addresses challenges Kyle faced as a child.
“There are intense family stories about having an alcoholic father, who died in February of 2023 due to ALS complications, as well as losing a brother to prison, and having an immediate family member steal my credit for a gambling addiction.”
Kyle said despite the challenges he wouldn’t change his life.
“I learned resilience, my faith was fortified, I learned the value of community, as well as also trusting my own intuition and building confidence that I could handle hard things,” he said.
“I want to leave the readers with an inspired hope that generational trauma can stop with them. They can be the ones in their families where everything shifts, and change the trajectory of not only their lives, but their future kids and grandkids. To pass down a legacy of healing, wholeness, and chasing dreams rather than trauma or curses.”
Telling his story was not easy.
“I very much struggled with how personal to get, but then recognized that much of the power of the book was in telling my story, and that it could help set others free by reading about some difficult situations,” he said. “I believe much of the strength of this book is in the raw transparency of being a real dude with some tough life junk.
“I love the dualities of life. We need to become comfortable with holding two things simultaneously true. I loved growing up in a small community, knowing my neighbors and their families, learning a great work ethic from many around me. It’s also true that for my personal growth, I had to get out of Mason County, expand my horizons, and open the aperture wider to get a larger view.
“Similarly, I love who I am now. I am confident in the man and husband and father I am, and I also strive to continually grow to be a better version of myself tomorrow and the days and months beyond. This book is an invitation to know your self-worth currently while simultaneously striving for perpetual personal growth. Life is precious, time is finite, and hopefully the dash between the numbers on our headstone will have represented the life we wished to live.”
The 14-chapter book is 240 pages.
“It’s an easy read because the topics are very relevant to all of our lives, but also a challenging read with some of the back stories as well as the premise of leveling ourselves up and inviting growth for the reader in several areas of life,” Kyle said.
“Wherever You Go There You Are” can be purchased at Amazon.
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