We made our move and soon discovered in October of 2000 that I had prostate cancer at 44 years of age.
A blood test called a PSA was done and my score was 37 which scared us. It should have been between 0 and 4.
This didn't shake the dream but it sure put a damper on it. We decided to halt production and put the business
on hold because of the cancer.

My wife's mother lived with us and we were in arrangements to move my father of 83 yrs up with us to help
him in his elderly age. In January of 2001 my first series of hormone treatments started. By April 2001 the
external beam radiation started. It was a tiring series, but things were still going okay. In July 2001, the
radioative seed implants were done and things were still going as planned. I was easy to tire but frequent rest
works to restore my energy.

We had found a house that the four of us could live in, with all the right features. On fathers day, my dad had
emergency surgery on his colon. He was getting better after a time in the hospital and was moved to a personal
care facility. We moved his furniture and things and were pursuing a care facility in Atlanta when we received
the call on August 20, 2001 that he had passed away. We had to sit down and collect our thoughts.

September 11, 2001, we all will remember! Companies and industry were making changes to keep up with the changing
America and world. We thought it best to move to Greenville, South Carolina with my employer. October came with
the first post treatment medical checkup. Results from the PSA test came back at less than .1, we were relieved.
Talk again of re-starting the business excited the halls. January 2002 medical checkup again showed a PSA of less
than .1 and we are happy. I still had a few mild side effects that could be lived with and soon we expected for
those to vanish as well.

Having been through an aggressive treatment along with the Great Physician above, the cancer is no longer. Our desire
was to once again produce our delicious Seasonings, Mustard and Hot Pepper Sauces for your enjoyment. The path to this
lead us back home through another divine intervention.

Update: As of May 19th, 2003 the latest check up was good, the PSA reading was 1.59 on a scale of 0.0 - 4.0 being okay.
...The doctor also seemed to be pleased as well as me and my family.

Update: As of October 2003, the latest check up had a PSA score of 1.1 on the scale of 0.0 to 4.0 being okay.

Update: December 25th, 2004, Tracy's mother passed away after a stroke and the complications from it.

Update: January 2nd, 2005, I surrendered to the call to the ministry after a few years of running trying to dodge the calling.
...Served as Associate Pastor & Minister of Music at Ministry Baptist Church near Ray City, GA.

Update: March 2006, PSA score was .56 and all functions are working normal. Had the privelege to marry a young couple who are friends
...of my oldest son. Had a second privelege to marry a cousin and her now husband.

Update: January 2007, Began work on reopening the SHF business to the public. By March 2007 we had the inspection and all paperwork
...in place and started finding stores that would allow us shelf space. By the end of year we had 31 stores back with us. In December 2007,
...began attending Westside Baptist Church in Valdosta, GA and look forward to serving there.

Update: 2008 has been great with 50 stores by end of November. Began teaching Adult Bible study, singing in the choir and
...singing solo's. Had the privelege to marry a young couple who are friends with my oldest son.(another couple) Had the
...privelege to preach the funeral of my Aunt Helen, a sister-in-law to my late father. The task of singing the "Oh Holy Night" solo
...in the Christmas musical at church has been given to me and I praise the Lord for the chance to sing it to Him.

Update: 2009 started out following a lack luster 2008 Christmas sales season but has filled our first order with Ira Higdon IGA Warehouse
in Cairo, Georgia. Began a diet to help fight a recent Gout flare up or two and will continue to try and shed a few pounds. My latest
PSA test score was 1.0 and we praise the Lord for continued blessing. We are adding a van body delivery truck with a lift gate to
the SHF effort. The delivery truck is working out great, the economy has been a challenge for all businesses. Sales are better than 2008
for all months. Christmas again was a very lack luster and understandable in light of the uncertainty in Washington D.C. and the general
fear of the people to spend. We finished the year better than 2008 and look forward to a better 2010. The death of our brother-in-law
in August was a great loss to the family and he will be missed. He will not have the pain and suffering of cancer anymore.

If you have any questions about prostate cancer and my experience, Email me or call, I'll be more than happy to talk with
you. I have no problems discussing prostate cancer.

It may be information that will save your life!