Flash back to 10 years ago...
Unlike 25, I just didn't feel like celebrating 27. There was no longer any doubt (in my mind or the minds of many others) that I had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. In the last days of 26, life had continued to devolve for me in Oklahoma City, so I had made the decision to run from all my problems and relocate to Dallas. So, 27 was my first birthday ever to be away from my family. Although I was in a fairly toxic relationship at the time, I do give him credit for trying to make my birthday as special as could be. He made some pretty tasty pirate-themed cupcakes and held a "party" with the only people I really knew, my coworkers at Bread Winners. So he tried to make it special, but it definitely didn't work. I was a mere 6 months away from one of the darkest periods of my life.
If you would've told me that, in 10 years, that I would be back home in the OKC Metro... I would have my MSW... that I would be a practicing therapist... that I would be a husband (married to a woman, at that)... that I would be expecting my first child... that I would be starting to talk to my father again... that my brothers actually liked me... that my family was actually proud of me... that life would actually be amazing... I would've laughed at you. I probably would've cried uncontrollably and drowned the sorrow in some vodka later, but I would've started out laughing.
Flash forward to today...
I've been a therapist at Northcare for a little over 90 days now. It's definitely a tough job, but I'm very appreciative of it. I'm grateful to my coworkers and supervisors within the Rapid Response Team. I'm learning so much and get to experience clinical supervision for my LCSW from one of the Vice Presidents of the agency. This isn't exactly the picture I had painted in my head of what being a social worker would look like, but I know that I'm going to be SO MUCH better because of my experiences here.
Megan and I have been married for a little over 4 months now. Life has definitely been an exciting adventure, with plenty of ups and downs, but I think that we're proving to be a pretty epic team. We briefly attempted to buy our first home, but threw in the towel quickly. The market is just waaaayyy too volatile right now, and we just can't compete. So, it may be a rental, but we'll be moving to our third home in a few months. Shortly after we got back from our honeymoon, Megs and I found out that she was already pregnant with our first little one. Preliminary tests have pointed towards us having a little boy, but we're waiting until the ultrasound confirmation to really start planning that one out. So, this October, we will become a family of three!
Within the last week, Matt had reached out to me and the rest of the family to let us know that my father had been hospitalized with a suspected stroke. While it turned out to NOT be a stroke, his blood sugar was astronomically high and the likelihood that there is extensive damage is pretty certain. I decided to swallow a BUNCH of pride, move aside some of the hurt and anger, and visit my dad the day that he had gotten moved to the longterm rehab facility. My primary motivations are to be there for my brother as he been shouldered with a lot of the responsibility on making important decisions, but I felt like it couldn't hurt to make contact and show that I'm "there" for my dad too. It's kinda like "don't worry about what you did to your youngest son, you have MUCH bigger health-related fish to fry right now. Well, you probably shouldn't even be eating fried food right now... so maybe you should grill those fish."
Megan and I started the day out with a delicious and nutritious breakfast of Fruity Pebbles. We got cleaned up and went and visited with Mom and Nick for a bit. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, until we hopped in the car with Megan's Mom and Granny and went to an Oklahoma City Dodgers game. We enjoyed some tasty burgers and hot dogs. Almost an entire section of complete and total strangers sang happy birthday to me... and the Dodgers won! To wrap up the evening, we made a stop for some ice cream and then we called it a night! Overall, a pretty awesome day!
In summary, 36 was pretty damn amazing. Lots and lots and LOTS of change and growth. Sometimes life feels like I have one too many plates up in there spinning, but it seems like it's all good stuff at least. If we continue on this trek, it'll be interesting to review all what happened to 37-year-old John.
