It is with tongue in cheek that we recognize Sean Fleury‘s* birthday today. The son of Karen Ann Matteson and Timothy Patrick Fleury, and the grandson the late Richard B. Fleury (1928-1992) and the late Barbara Hope Riley (1927-2015), he has had to overcome a lot, and finally he’s making some progress.

It’s been a tough-row-to-hoe since his glory days in high school. Sean had to overcome the stigma of being accepted into one of the best engineering schools, and then finding himself thriving in that rarified academic atmosphere. What a burden! Then there was the added “inconvenience” of being a BMOC and playing NCAA Division I soccer during his four years in college. To live those campus days must have called upon all of Sean’s internal strength!

Sean’s post collegiate career has been filled with one hurdle after another. Imagine having to work along side some of the most accomplished engineers and scientists at a world class company like Boston Scientific. The poor kid just couldn’t get a break. Before he knew it, he was off to Minneapolis finding himself in the center of “Midwestern Nice.” How dare this company transfer Sean to a land of smiles, courtesy and good beer. How would he survive this constant flow of adversity? As Ms Gaynor sang: “Only the strong survive,” and Sean certainly did, he kept pushing through the limits of his trials and tribulations.

But the pressures of the world kept closing in upon him. Out of the blue, Sean found himself faced with something few men can handle – a wonderful woman who more than met his match. She was Intelligent, personable, and athletic – Mollie Knake.

Sean didn’t have a chance, but his luck sure changed.

Just when All American Minneapolis was about to come unglued, the newly married couple were transferred to Costa Rica, where the winter doesn’t exist and the sun shines continuously. What a way to “quarantine” yourself.

This is not Sean’s normal Costa Rican attire

We wish the birthday boy welI, and may he continue to thank Mollie for his new found blessings.