10 years

Life is still good in Albuquerque, NM. The weather has been crazy as we have been getting rain almost everyday. Ya'll know how much I love thunderstorms so this has been amazing for me. Of course, I got a lot of rain when I was in Washington state but there was no lightning and thunder and that's what makes a good storm.

Last weekend I went to my hometown of Dalhart, TX for my 10 year high school reunion. I had so much fun seeing the friends that I grew up with. I went there with some trepidation since the last 2 years of school were not my greatest time. There's no good way to put it but I made some really bad decisions, some very selfish choices, some incredibly stupid moves. I wish I knew why exactly I did the things I did and I still can't understand why I shunned my upbringing and acted like someone who had no morals or values. I'm really embarrassed at this. But I was lucky to have a lot of people who cared about what happened to me. My family, for sure, but other random angels who went an extra mile to make sure I finished high school. A man named Mr. Bliss, for example. He was my 4th grade math teacher turned alternative school principal who would call my friend Sierra and I every morning to make sure we were coming to school that day. And there was Sierra's step grandmother who invited us over to breakfast every morning before school so we would get a good meal (sometimes our only one of the day) and when she foiled our plan of going back home and going to bed after the waffles she started taking us to the school and would actually sit at the door to make sure we stayed there the whole time. I missed a lot of your basic high school monumental times because I was growing up too fast. I traded one life for another and eventually lost hope and felt like I was doomed to live this life I was creating forever. But eventually through the diligent work of my parents and my grandparents and me I grew up - it just took me a little longer than my classmates. And so here I am 10 years later going back to this town and these people to hopefully make some ammends and they welcomed me with open arms.