So now that I have reached the ripe (or slowly fermenting) old age of 29, it behooves me to direct my 20/20 hindsight to the last twelve months in the life of Jess. What did my 29th year hold?
- In May of 2004, I was an exchange student in Munich. My boyfriend was finishing up his master's in physics, and we had plans.
- July came all too quickly, and with it the end of an era. I took my final oral exams, wrote my final paper, and said goodbye to my floormates (with much hugging and not a few tears) and to Munich. Back at the ranch, I had an intensive three-week training session for my new position and enjoyed the pure luxury of a week full of friends and laughter and road-trippin'.
- And then in August: new job, new co-workers, new apartment, new country, new city, new(ish) language... this brought stress and most of all, loneliness into the "What, you too" household.
- September: my niece Hailey was born, and I was forced by circumstances to love her from afar for way too long.
- October saw the end of that now strained and loveless long-distance relationship. In my general loneliness I reached out in the best way I could find: electronically. I reconnected with old friends and, astonishingly, made new ones. They filled my days up with new impulses and shared thoughts, and slowly the loneliness lost its edge.
- In January came my exodus: a trip home into the loving embrace of the friends who really hadn't forgotten me in my absence. I was consecrated into the family of diaconal ministers in my church. And I got to hold the most amazing baby in the world in my arms.
- March brought fresh wind and several new friends... fully doubling the size of the social group that had scraped itself together before that.
- My "blogging life" continued to intensify as my blog became not only the most important outlet for my thoughts (both shallow and profound), but the catalyst for some of the more enriching friendships I've experienced.
- And my final wish for this place--that my apartment be filled with more life than I alone can bring to it--was fulfilled just in time for my birthday.
All in all, a year of satisfying development, I find, with easily discernable peaks and valleys (and lately more highs than lows). And once more my deepest gratitude to you, dear people, who belong most emphatically to the highs.
5 comments:
Happy Birthday Jessica,
I started reading your blog when you were still lonely in your new city and it has been such a joy to read about your adventures and successes...congratulations!
I think what makes your blog so special is how honest you've always been about your thoughts and feelings. Thanks for sharing so openly your self and your life--all those exhilirating ups and downs--with all of us. It's strange to say this since we have never met, but it has been a true pleasure getting to know you (even if it is only a part of you).
Jaime, thank you! It is so strange to me to think that my 'adventures and successes' could possibly matter to anyone else... but then I think about how much yours matter to me, and then I understand. :-)
Rachel, you have now come up in two recent IM conversations as my example of how it is possible to be "friends" with someone you have technically never met and wouldn't recognize if you passed them on the street. That just doesn't seem to matter somehow. I don't think of you as some random disembodied keyboard... you are *Rachel*, and I know you and share your joys and cooking experiments and cultural observations and love for Edward. :-)
Yay, I'm a friend! And I've come up in IM conversations--um, what's an IM conversation?
Rachel... hi! IM is "instant messenger"-like Yahoo! Messenger or MSN messenger. It lets you "chat" in real time with people. A nice alternative to expensive phone calls. :-)
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