When I reflect on the 2010s, I recall a decade of feeling helpless in the face of tragedy and reacting with anger and determination to regain some control.
Face it, the 2010s sucked. But especially sucked for me in particular.
- The company I worked for was sold to another company that laid me off at the end of 2012.
- Unable to find work, I assumed thousands of dollars of student loan debt to further my education in 2013.
- My brother died in May 2014.
- I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and started having to use a CPAP machine in 2016.
- My wife left me and filed for divorce in 2010, triggering years of loneliness, animosity, and legal battles.
- After the divorce, I was left with a house full of clutter and had to throw things away. I had accumulated items since 2001, had items from my Chattanooga apartment, items from my closed studio. Then my sister moved in. This meant throwing away or giving away so many things to which I had sentimental attachments.
- The global war on terror really hit home when five men were shot and killed by a man just down the road from the office where I was working in Chattanooga.
- My friend Don and a very nice lady I was dating named Dawn both died of cancer in 2017.
- Once my coworkers found out I was turning 50, they began treating me differently. They presumed I was much younger.
- This year was a particularly hellish way to bookend a miserable decade. Sickness, financial and professional struggles, a family crisis that left me feeling helpless.
