Today marks a month before the beginning of year 35 for me! And yes, I turn 34 years old. But that means I have 34 years behind me, right? You’re born into year 1. I have this bad habit of explaining that every time I point it out. Ah well.
This particular year of my life has definitely represented a major change in era. It started with having to put the wraps on an up-and-down, maybe just plain crazy 3 years in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and will likely end,.. where?
September
I enjoyed what will likely be my last meal out with a group of classmates from my time spent in the UNC Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology (RCP) program, as most of us have gone onto bigger and better things. We ate at a delicious, well-known Chapel Hill establishment called Mama Dip’s. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend it.
I acquired an iPhone, another lifechanging device, on the 21st, a day before some good friends of mine from the Community Empowerment Fund came over to help me shuck all of my furniture into storage. Yes, it was time to make that move onto Pinebluff, at least for a time, while I decided what was next.
Oh sure, I was happy that I’d get to spend some of their formative years with two of my nephews and a niece. And of course, I’d also get to enjoy conversations over and around sports with my dad, something I’d not really done in at least ten years.
The harder part about going out there was being so far away from, well, everything. No more bus lines, or coffee shops, or hanging with friends. It was a form of living that would just require a different mindset. More like trips to church, the grocery, or to scoop my mom up from her job at Wendy’s. As they tried to tell me repeatedly though, and I’ve since come to agree, I’d appreciate that time of relaxation eventually.
The job carousel began almost immediately after I left Carrboro on the 23rd. I returned on the 25th, being put up by some kind classmates and treated to a pizza party featuring home-brewed beer, so that I could go to a job interview in Raleigh the next day. As with so many of my attempts, it didn’t quite pan out.
October-December
Life went on in Pinebluff, and I basically read a lot and listened to more games than I could count. The very tiny Yorkie also couldn’t get enough of me, making me laugh with her futile attempts to climb onto my relatively high bed.
We had a great and lively Thanksgiving there, some of the silly audio of which I recorded. For Christmas, I opted to travel to Charlotte with my cousin after having attended a party with other friends in Lumberton. That period was nice, but full of anxiety as I anticipated a move to Montgomery Alabama to work for what I thought would be Hulit Packard under the auspices of the Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind.
January-March
For reasons I never quite learned, that job didn’t end up happening. Perhaps I ended up being ok with that, because having gone there would’ve been beyond anything I know of.
Instead, I went ahead and accepted the offer from my current employer, Durham’s LC Industries, after having interviewed with them in November. It was in many respects a last resort type of situation, but one that at least has allowed me to re-establish independence and get into an area where I could make the adult choices I wish to make.
It took almost a month to get my furniture in here, and when that was finally accomplished, it happened because a long-time friend opted to lend arms and a truck. That first month living in here, with about $50 in my bank account and having to survive some craziness due to not knowing the bus system as I should have, were tough. But hey, I made it.
And other than that, I suppose things have been ok. We have spent the last month at least kind of low on work, but at least we’re finding some way to hang in there.
I’m very hopeful that year 35 will be a big one for me, and I feel that I’m finally taking the steps to at least make that a possibility. But I don’t have to tell you, there are no guarantees.