I have been on eBay since January 9, 2001 - my first account on eBay was chrisandkimberlybusinessservices and I currently have 5 business accounts and 1 personal account.

I opened my first eBay account while working in a computer center.  about 2 weeks later I was wrongfully terminated from that job.  While I was home I started spending more and more time on eBay instead of looking for a new job.

In September of 2001 I attended my first eBay University in Sacramento CA and I loved it.  The following June, after recently getting engaged, I attended the very first eBay Live in Anaheim California.  While at eBay Live I had some trouble walking but declined medical attention.  After all I knew in July I was going to have heart surgery to correct a birth defect with my heart - one that had been corrected at birth and again at age 9 but needed one more surgery as my body has grown over the years.  I had a great time at eBay Live 2002.

The photos taken at eBay Live 2002 are the last known photos of me standing.

I returned home to Modesto to have the heart surgery on July 25th as scheduled.  I walked into the hospital and got onto the gurney - when I woke up in CVICU (Cardio-Vascular Intensive Care Unit) I could not stand - I fell to the floor.  A few days later after a MRI it was determined that I had a stroke.  Looking back the not being able to walk in Anaheim could have been a warning sign of the stroke - if I only would have sought medical attention there.

What was suppose to be a 3-5 day stay at the hospital turned into 16 days at the hospital and 21 days in a rehabilitation hospital.  I finally returned home at the end of August 2002 after a lot of hard work in the rehabilitation hospital.  To be honest during those 37 days I was not sure if I would ever come home or would be placed in long term care.  I was only home for a few weeks before a blood clot wound me back into the hospital for 5 days.  I am still on blood thinners and now face monthly blood draws to make sure the blood thinners are working. 

I honestly thought that I would be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days but when I had the stroke and ended up the hospital longer many of the people who purchased items from me experienced a delay in shipping.  I was obviously unable to ship any orders and my fiancée was more concerned about my care than taking care of the orders for me.  It is a decision we both stand by today - however our feedback took a hit - we received 10 negative feedbacks (out of 31) during the 37 days I was in the hospital and rehab hospital.

Shortly after I returned home near the end of September I started physical therapy at a PT center in town 2 to 3 times a week.  It helped but the travel time there and back took a lot of time out of my day. 

I not only exercised at PT I have always pushed myself at home.  Over the years since my stroke I have from hard work and determination I have learned how to walk around my kitchen, down the hallway and into the bathroom and back - both while holding onto objects in the house.  I can craw backwards and forwards and just recently started to transfer from my scooter to a regular seat on the bus.

Since I was in rehab I have always been determined to get my life back to where it was before the stroke and to that end in the Spring of 2003 I took my first scooter (which was a loaner from my soon to be in-laws) to Sacramento by myself.  I always loved to take Amtrak to Sacramento 2 or 3 times a year by myself.

In June 2003 I got married to my wife.  I was still very active on eBay and continue to work on eBay since I felt I was semi-retired by the stroke.

Due to the wedding in 2003 I was unable to fly to Florida for eBay live 2003.  Due to the stroke and not being able to walk without some assistance and my wife's schedule (and cost) we did not attend eBay Live 2004 in New Orleans.

August 2004 I took my wife with me and we attended my second (her first) eBay University in Modesto California.  It was great.  We both met Marsha Coiler, author of the eBay Dummies book, (I have met her in Anaheim in 2002) and we both met Jim "Griff" Griffin who autographed my copy of his eBay Bible book.

Fall of 2004 I started teaching eBay classes at Modesto Junior College Community Education department.  While teaching these classes I studied hard and become an Education Specialist trained by eBay®.  A certification I worked hard for and I am very proud of.

Spring 2005 I returned to teaching eBay classes at MJC Community Education.  I have been featured on a local news program, Central Valley Report (http://www.centralvalleyreport.com)

I attended eBay Live in San Jose in 2005 and it was great.  It was my second eBay live and was my wife's first.

I was also a guest on eBay Radio from eBay live 2005 in San Jose.

Fall 2005 I was featured in an article in Entrepreneur's eBay Startup Guide "Be An eBay Success"  September 2005.

July 2006 my wife and I moved ourselves and our 2 cats from Modesto California to Webb City Missouri

In late summer of 2007 i was contacted by a publishing company who wanted to publish my story in a textbook.

The first part of 2008 my eBay story appears at the start of chapter 9 in the fourteenth edition of the textbook "Small Business Management" (2008) by Justin G. Longenecker, Carlos W. Moore, J. William Petty, Leslie E. Palich (ISBN: 0324569726)