I am still here

Hey, everyone.

Or more like, no one. It's been years. I know no one uses this anymore. On a whim I decided to look back on this old blog. When last I wrote I was moving to Japan and was, to put it gently, a mess. I was clutching at everything I thought I knew about myself, only to discover as time went on that I was building a new person.

I will say I am better now. I've regained old hobbies and found new ones. I have a general hope for my future, and a plan. I'm working on making a portfolio for graduate school, and I will be applying next fall.

I will say that my writing skills have gotten significantly worse from disuse and a general love of internet lingo. My writing life now is a far cry from the weekly blogs I used to write in high school. (Not that those were particularly eloquent, if memory serves correctly.)

But, I am happier. I have a cat. If you recall my rabbit, Magnus, well, he died in an apartment explosion several months back. I'd left him in the care of my stepbrother and his wife, and the apartment flooded, and a gas line blew. It was heartbreaking. I was across the world, and it's no one's fault, but I wish the ending had been gentler. It's not something you could ever expect.

As for Percy, my cat. I got him in 2017 and he'll be two this upcoming January. He sleeps by my head every night. He has helped my soul considerably. He's a big cat, but even still, it's strange that such a little creature can carry so much of my joy.

I thought about Mom today while I was eating school lunch. My sixth graders didn't notice, which is good, because I'm sure my face went through a journey. What I took away from that trail of thoughts is the almost laughably cheesy sentiment that time is kind and also incredibly cruel. It blunts my memories of her, both the good and the bad recede into fog.

It's been nearly four years since she died. Since I stood in that gray hospital room. Since my life's path branched off from the line it'd been leading for 21 years.

I'm 25 now, and I'll be 26 in a few months. I'm going to Ireland with a friend in March. I will be spending another Christmas in Japan. I'm living my life again, and I wanted to let you know.

Until next time.

Have a great week.