The Last 365 Days

Originally posted: Nov. 29, 2006

The Fall semester at Southern Utah University is quickly coming to a close. As I began looking at final projects and viewing the damage my procrastination will cause me, I started to think about my life over the last year.

In the last 365 days, I got divorced. I knew our lives had grown apart, we weren't happy, and something needed to change. I smashed my life apart, like a sledgehammer on glass, and watched it crumble. I struggled to maintain a grip on sanity while I tried to gather the pieces back up and put them back together.

In the last 300 days, I met someone that made things better. She and I understand each other and are far more similar than different. We have the same goals and hopes. We want to work together to achieve them.

In the last 180 days, I lost my grandmother. Our family was always close with my grandparents, since my mom was their closest child. We did all of the major holidays together. Just two weeks before she passed away, she met Sharise and loved her, and that was important to me. I know that every one leaves the same way eventually, but I wasn't ready for it yet.

In the last 60 days, I lost my sister. If I had to rank people in my life according to importance, she was in the top three. I only had one sibling, and while we fought quite a bit growing up, I was her shadow. I followed her everywhere as a kid. We had the same friends and did a lot of the same things. Sure, that meant that I've had my fair share of dresses and makeup, and playing with the Ken doll. As we got older we grew more distant for a little while when she was on drugs. After she got back from rehab, though, we became close again. We had each others' back. I never worried about what to get my parents for Christmas or birthdays because she lived close to them and always had an idea. I think of all the events that have happened to me in the last ten years, this has been the most depressing and life-altering.

In the last 30 days, I got married. Sharise is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better partner. She and I have a lot of fun together. We also work well. People have asked me if it is wise to get re-married so quickly, but they've never been in my situation. When you find something that good and you see it for what it truly is, you grab hold and don't let go. She and I are building our lives together now, and I look forward to our future and family.

In the next 30 days, I may be headed for a new career in the Salt Lake City area. For anyone not familiar with Utah, St George is actually much closer to Las Vegas. I grew up in that area, however, so the thought does not bother me. It would require me to get permission to finish my last few business classes through independent study, as well as picking up our lives again and moving over three hours to the north to a large city. It's not such a bad thing when you consider the fact that Sharise and I haven't had a chance to settle into our new place in St. George.

In the last 365 days, my life has gone through a lot of changes. God must have granted me with a personality that readily adapts to change, a personality where some of my best performance is under stress, simply for this one year in life. I look forward to what the next year will bring. I pray that it be devoid of tragedy, and full of new beginnings.

Here's to the future. Another 365 days and beyond.