Motivational speaking | Swamp Productions, LLC

Swamp Productions,LLC.

Be inspired & learn to overcome from a retired coach and his kid

Your life is as good as your mindset.

The Swampers

Topics We Discuss

Motivation/Inspiration
Overcoming adversity
Depression
Anxiety
Eating Disorders
Addiction
Body Language
Self-esteem
Health
Living with someone who is sick
Grief
Being a caregiver

Who are we?

Todd - I'm a retired teacher/coach living in Northeast Texas. I love to watch competitors and just about all sports. In the late sixties, just out of high school, I attended University of Baylor School of Radiology Technology. After completing the two year program, I worked at different hospitals while attending the University of North Texas in Denton. I'm married to my wife Tricia, a retired teacher/coach, and we reside in Oak Grove, Texas. We have two kids, Coby and Casey. My son, Coby, lost a 29 plus year battle with cystic fibrosis in 2008. My daughter and I have teamed up to write books and give motivational speeches about overcoming trials in life and keeping a positive mindset.

I was always a wannabe author, now I is one.

So who is Casey? I'm just a gal who is finally finding her way after the loss of my brother and best friend, Coby. It all started when I was a kid, sucking my thumb, and that led to anxiety, depression, cutting and burning, eating disorders, alcoholism, shopping addiction, skin picking, and a few other disorders/issues, and then all of them at the same time. It was just one problem to the next. I wanted to die for the longest time and go to heaven to be with my brother. It took me five years to clean out his closet.

However, I have overcome and made it through with faith and through watching how much my brother fought for and enjoyed his short life on this earth. It's not easy to talk about everything I've been through, but I do it anyway because I know I can help other people who are going through some of the same things I have. Before I would internalize everything, but getting "it all" out there helps me live more freely and true to who I really am.

I love to write, be it journaling, writing books, or helping my dad with his stories. I've kept a journal for as long as I can remember, and I can get lost just writing away.

Just like everyone else, we have a story to tell.

"Life sure is a ride," my dad, Toddford as I call him, always says.

Be sure and blog with me.

Remember, your life is as good as your mindset.

Latest from the Swamp:

Gent Library

Tales from The Swamp

The Day Ain't Over Yet: A CF Dad's Journal
by Todd Michael Gent
Page Publishing

book review by Jonah Meyer

"I watched him sleep, the retraction of the skin between his ribs. He fights for every breath, it seems."

This intimate narrative of a father journeying with his son from their hometown of Wylie, Texas, to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, captures the day-to-day life of twelve-year-old Coby as he awaits and finally receives a double-lung transplant—the only hope for extending his life as a cystic fibrosis patient. The book's entirety comprises daily journals Gent kept at the time, covering just over 200 days, beginning in February 1992. Throughout, the reader meets a team of caring, dedicated doctors, nurses, and specialists touched by young Coby and his positive, thoughtful, charming personality. Gent's deep love and unyielding admiration for his son, who is quite literally fighting to stay alive, is evidenced on every page. Wife Tricia and Casey, Coby's sister, also feature prominently in this story of deeply held faith and the miracle of modern medicine. Hospital professionals and other patients are all touched profoundly by young Coby, his wonderful sense of humor, and amazingly optimistic personality.

Gent writes he had "not looked at these journals in over twenty-nine years" and wasn't sure why he wrote them to begin with. "But I know now that God had a hand in it," he says. One is nearly overcome with tears, reading Gent's reflection that "through it all, Coby kept his faith, a great attitude, and no matter how sick he felt, he made sure other folks were happy and felt special." Coby, he says, "fought the good fight," focusing on what truly matters during his twenty-nine years on earth. That Gent decided to revisit and then publish in book form these journals is a fortunate choice for readers. Not only does the work honor his incredible son's memory, but it also encapsulates their journey together through thick and thin, good days and bad, with love and faith always prevailing.