OK, so I suppose you're wondering where I've been for almost a year. I don't blame you. I could have written or called and I probably should have. But I was really trying to see if I could do it. I mean, we're supposed to get better right? And in our situation, better means living more like everyone else. Well, I don't know very many everyone elses who write about being crazy (sorry, Coach) on a regular basis.
I mean, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to tie a bow around this thing and pack it away. that was evident when I still found myself counting everything in even numbers, chewing equally on both sides of my mouth, alternating my footsteps across horizontal planes when I walk, and many of my other parlor tricks. More than a year of therapy and medication and I'm still my own little side show.
It was OK, though, because I was able to keep the festivities in my head again. You know, kind of like my own entertainment. I was surviving too, until summer. Yes, now we arrive at the purpose of our fated reunion. There will be much written about this summer in the weeks to come, but for now, I'll give you the list. Even better - bullet points.
- I started a business (in addition to the other business I already owned - looking for an auxiliary income stream to augment a lack of profitability)
- I performed a funeral for a friend
- I redesigned the entire marketing program of my main business still trying to discover some illusive profitability
- I performed a funeral for the mother of one of my oldest friends (she died senselessly and suddenly of cancer and it felt like burying my own mother) This brought me face to face with countless people from my childhood and adolescence.
- I started another business (with a dear friend who needs to be free of a job that's killing him and take charge of his future)
- I performed a funeral for one of my closest friends from college (who hung himself in a closet) This brought me face to face with countless people from college.
- I turned 39
- I took my wife and kids to Disney World (no small feat for a crazy guy - I encountered 2 planes, a dozen restaurants, four crowded theme parks, monorails, trains, buses, a safari truck, and half of the nation of Brazil)
- I performed a funeral for my Great-Aunt (who died of natural causes at 90) This brought me face to face with countless extended relatives.
- I redesigned the entire marketing program for the first business I started still looking for auxiliary income for the main business that was still struggling.
- I performed a funeral for the Grandmother of the same friend who lost his mother 2 months ago. This brought me face to face with extended members of his family for whom I had no answers regarding their feelings of injustice and grief.
- I redesigned the entire marketing program for my main business in yet another effort to reach profitability.
- I just found out that someone close to me has cancer.
So there it is, World. As you can see, we have much to discuss. I don't really know what to call this next adventure. Or what to call the last 11 months. One thing I do want you to know, though, is that it wasn't anything you did. It wasn't you, it was me. I guess I just needed some space, you know, to find myself. Or maybe I just realized that it isn't so bad to need you after all. Stop me if I had you at "Hello"...
