Hired by McDonald’s in Milford, MA. Promoted to manager while still in high school. I’ll manage seven different McDonald’s restaurants over the next 10 years.

I launch my first business: Writing term papers for my classmates. My very first paid writing gig! With the profits, I buy my first car… a 1978 Chevy Malibu.

Head-on collision. Datsun B-210 vs. Mercedes Benz. I go through the windshield. I die but am brought back to life via CPR.

I graduate from Manchester Community College. I don’t know it yet, but my public speaking class with Pat Sullivan begins my onstage career.

I adopt Kaleigh, my Lhasa Apso. The source of many stories. My friend for 18 years.

I DJ my first wedding with my friend and partner, Bengi. More than 25 years and 500 weddings later, I am still an occasional wedding DJ.

I begin my teaching career at Henry A. Wolcott School in West Hartford, CT, where I continue to teach a quarter century later.

Elysha Green walks into a faculty meeting. I meet my future wife for the first time.

I became an ordained minister to officiate friends' weddings. I’ll go on to officiate more than 100 weddings, including two repeat customers and one former student.

I propose to Elysha in Grand Central Terminal in NYC while 25 friends hide in the holiday crowd and watch.

Elysha and I marry. Our principal, Plato Karafelis, officiates the wedding. Our school’s music teachers play Beatles songs during the ceremony.

Clara is born. Emergency C-section. She’s been much easier ever since.

My first novel, Something Missing, publishes. My dream of becoming a published author finally comes true.

I tell my first story on a stage at The Moth in the famed Nuyorican Poets Cafe. My plan is to tell one story and never again. Instead, it changes my life.

Charlie is born. Clara weeps, hoping for a sister, until she sees him and falls instantly in love. This is one of the most magical moments I have ever witnessed.

 Boris Levin, CEO of Mott Corporation, asks me to begin consulting with him and his company. I decline, telling him I don’t know how I could help. He disagrees and changes my life.

I perform stand-up for the first time at Sea Tea Improv in Hartford, CT. Elysha laughs at least two of my jokes, which is enough for me to fall in love with comedy.

Storyworthy publishes. Business leaders soon discover it, opening the doors for me to corporate consulting.

I produce my first solo show, “You’re a Monster, Matthew Dicks” at TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT.

I continue to record the meaningful moments of my life in "Homework for Life," eager to see where these stories will lead me next.