Wednesday, January 5, 2011

New Years start

So I just read Karen's blog and I like how she broke down the year by months, though it seems for mine, each month contains a years worth of events. Just this time last year, i was homeless, living in an 8X8 dome tent with Nadine and BooDah plus several suitcases and bags of stuff. We had been homeless for 2 weeks and it already seemed a lifetime had gone by. We would sit by the fire in camp and just watch people at first, it was like a real life comedy show, making us wonder what exactly we we're getting into. This month last year was when i was kicked off the program and had to kick the last 30mg in said tent, with said occupants, which meant long nights of tossing and turning, clostraphobia and anxiety uncontrolled. I wish that hell on nobody! In February we all moved to our new campsite, where 10 days later, I had to leave cause of the dog, and due to politics and one mans nepolian complex, couldn't return even after i appealed, won and was voted back by the campers. So I had to urban camp in a $1.5 million dollar commercial vacant lot, in a $10 tent. Fortunately, it was a warm and mild winter, and with the dog, we managed ok. I also started panhandeling about this time too, since I couldn't sit around and do nothing all day. And once I started doing it, and realized its just like fishing, it was fun. Coming up with new signs, learning new peices of worthless info to tell tourists for tips. Oh the things I learned about Pike's Market. Funny thing is, that I was only on that corner for 3 months, and made the news twice, met movie stars and pro athlets. We both had "fans" per say, though BooDah always got more attention than I did. And thats pretty much how March and April went. In May, Nadine went with her Mom to finally try and detox medically, while my sister drove up and got me, the dog and as much stuff as I could fit into her SUV, and took us back to my Mom's. I didn't really know what I was going to do, and just needed some time to decompress. For the first time in 2 years, I didn't have to worry about the needs or welfare of anybody. Was kinda nice. But the vacation was short lived. Once Nadine left me, I knew I had to get back, and get my life going again. Within a month, I was not only employed with a decent job paying me a fair liveable wage, but i had a place to live, though in October that changed for the better, and worse. I really had second thoughts at this point. What was I doing?? Within  a month, I was homeless again. Back in the same damn tent city that I had been kicked out of only 8 months before. Believe it or not, but there were less than 7 people left from the original ones the first time I was there. But I didn't lose all hope, seeing as how I had a job, I had money coming in, so I just stayed low, saved up my money, and just before the tent city had to pack up and move, I left for a room for rent. For the next two months, the rest of the year, the routine just doesn't change. I did rent a car in november, goto thanksgiving at my grandparents where I picked up my stuff from Idaho, and got my son BooDah, so he's with me in Seattle again. And now its a new year, though it seems longer.

2 comments:

  1. Wowza brother! What a year! Think of all the experiences you have had and the stories you can tell, you should write a book. I'm so happy that you have turned your life around and have gotten things back on track in just one year, though it may have seemed like an eternity while you were living it, in hindsight it wont seem like it was that much time at all. I often say the same thing for my life this past year, what a whirlwind it was!

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  2. time is a funny thing...So much has happened in the past twelve months. Sometimes it hardly seems possible that an entire year has flown by. But it seems like years since you were here!!! Hope you can have a good year!!

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