Almost 15 years later...
Where has the time gone? And really, who knew this place still existed, am I right?
I look back through this journal and there is so much...to cringe about. I realize most of us are pretty melodramatic in our early twenties, caught between high school and adulthood, not knowing how or where to fit. But man, there was some staunch delusions of grandeur in the tone of those entries, let me tell you!
Here, today, I am days away from my 42nd birthday. I am happily married, just celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary yesterday (but been together for 15 years, to clarify). Yes, I married my hot boss from all those years ago. 3 kids, and I'm pretty close to the two younger girls (hard with the man cub since he's only a few years younger than me). Vic and I are grandparents now, and he just turned 1 this month. I've also had career ups and downs, with the same company I had all those complaints about when I kept this thing years ago. I had suits and ties and all the trappings of being a boss (but tried hard to be a leader instead of a tyrant).
But 2021 was a time of great transition for so many of us.
I left that job, after 18 years. It was hard to do, I'd actually become kind of a big deal there, in my little pond, with hope of branching out into lakes and streams. But things didn't go my way. I was afforded the option to work remotely (thanks, pandemic) and for a full year I worked and lived in both Florida and California, spending some much needed time with family. When the company called me back permanently, we had a tough decision to make, and opted to pack up everything and make the big move back to CA. We made it official on October 1st.
Since then, life has thrown us some curveballs. Once we drove across the country with all of our stuff, Vic and I picked up throw-away jobs to keep the cash coming in. Not a week after starting work, my grandmother suffered a minor stroke and came home needing 24 hour care. With my job prospects not looking too promising, I stopped working to become her caregiver. Since I now had some free time, this seemed like an opportunity to find some silver lining, so I started school remotely (better late than never, eh?) and have been working through some general ed courses. I'm planning to major in Health Science to see where the wind takes me. Maybe all those years of Grey's Anatomy reruns will come in handy.
Today I'm tasked with a narrative writing assignment, so I came here for inspiration. Appears instead I may have come here moreso for distraction. The assignment suggestions are all "write about a first time" or "a proudest moment". I was certainly barking up the wrong tree coming here!
Who knows, maybe I'll find my way back to that young punk who thought themselves quite the writer. Of course, now with a bit more reality and less grandeur.
Nice to be back, actually.