My name is Matthew Monahan, I come from a family of four with my late brother John Jr being the first born, I followed after him, my sister Madelyn came along next and my youngest brother William followed her.

Early in my life my brother John and I were pulled out of the public education system so my mother Michelle could homeschool us, eventually she went on to homeschool each of her children. My mother always found a way to make education fun to explore.

My father John Sr. has always been an outdoorsman, he has been the main influence in my passion for fishing and nature. As a child I can remember trying to hurry up and finish my school work for the day so I could run to my favorite fishing hole and catch a couple of Bluegills for lunch. Having that freedom to explore around the woods as a child is what helps bring me back to a peaceful mindset as an adult.

As my teenage years approached me, we were soon faced with hard times.

My father was a contractor throughout most of my childhood until the housing market crash of 2008, things were hard enough already and this was just the final straw that broke the camels back. My father was faced with some tough decisions so he ended up joining the National Guard as this was what would provide food for his family. He later went on to serve two tours in the Afghanistan War as an Army Chaplain. Making this transition was one of the first big challenges our family faced together, we were sent to Boise Idaho were I soon discovered my passion for fly fishing and many other things a small town Georgia boy never knew existed.

After moving from town to town I began to lose my identity and fell in with the wrong crowd. Shortly after my 19th birthday I was held at gun point over the keys to my car.

I soon found myself face to face with God after being shot five times

One shot was through my elbow, one through my back ribs into my lung, two landed on my spinal cord and one skimmed my armpit.

Only by the Grace of God was I able to survive this situation, Him and I sat down that night and he showed me my whole life, all of the good and all of the bad and everything in between.

This near death experience was difficult to cope with, for awhile I suffered from PTSD which led me to explore psychedelic plant medicines. It has been a long journey of trying to find healing, after many campfire meetings with my friends I was able to find my true faith in God.

After being hardheaded for so many years I finally understood that Jesus is the only one who can take away our suffering, he is the true healer of this world and I am glad to have re-connected with him.

I have been set onto a new path, a path of hope and healing. Over the years of my life I have watched many friends and family die by the hands of these massive Pharmaceutical companies, I have seen the agriculture industry bring waste to our lands and people.