Initially it was pretty easy to pretend a monumental, life-changing event was not actually happening. For most of high school I had to navigate between two worlds. One world consisted of school, friends, parties, and trying to survive high school. My other world revolved around The Fiero. These two universes could not coexist. In fact,… Continue reading I Was a Teenage Statistic – Part 2
Tag: friendship
I Was a Teenage Statistic – Part 1
Gen X is often referred to as feral. We parented ourselves and younger siblings, we were left alone a lot, cooked our own meals, we played in “the woods”, and our parents had no real clue as to what was happening in our lives. This was certainly the case for me. My parents had divorced,… Continue reading I Was a Teenage Statistic – Part 1
Love Is Not Enough
When I was young, I believed in love. I believed there was nothing greater or more important than love. But you told me love won’t be enough. Love won’t pay the bills. Love won’t buy groceries or braces for the kids. Life would be hard, and love would not be enough. There would be sickness… Continue reading Love Is Not Enough
Five Days in the Psych Ward
In 1987 the mental health floor of a dilapidated hospital was exactly what you would expect. The 5th floor of Puget Sound Hospital was gray, neglected, probably clean enough to pass an inspection but also maybe not and…basically forgotten. Stepping out of the elevator into this other realm was surreal. To the right of me… Continue reading Five Days in the Psych Ward
1987
The end of my junior year of high school was a wild ride. I discovered The Fiero had been sleeping with someone I thought was a close friend. Olivia, The Friend, had introduced me to The Fiero. The Friend was dating The Fiero’s best friend. It was all so messy. Although I don’t remember much,… Continue reading 1987
Did he just try to gaslight me?
Back in the day, EJ and I were what I would consider friend-adjacent. Although we went to different high schools, he was good friends with some of the people I was good friends with and we socialized in the same circles. I remember EJ as being a straight-edge kid. He attended parties but didn’t drink… Continue reading Did he just try to gaslight me?
Dazed and Confused 