L'Shana Tovah.

Okay, I'm not Jewish, but I have long paid attention to Rosh Hashanah, because of a set of moments in my life from a long time ago.

Nearly 30 years ago, in January of 1996, i very suddenly became homeless at the age of 19. More than that, I lost my health insurance (which isn't a joke for a Type 1 diabetic). I did what I had to do to get back on my feet, but 1996 was a hard year, and approaching the 30 year anniversary like this is... a lot.

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Some of the work I put in are things I'm incredibly proud of, and I'll show off the scars when the moment calls for it. Others were... compromises that still haunt me.

It was September when I had my shit together enough to stand upright. Hard to put an exact date on it, but I decided a long time ago to call it a New Year's recovery. Starting out the year 5757 on the right foot. Or close enough, at least.

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The next three months saw things improve more quickly and I rang in the Gregorian New Year 1997 on another big high. And I know I'm still a year short of the big 30 for that, but I'm sitting in Washington DC on Rosh Hashanah, my bag full of Immigration paperwork for moving to Portugal and reflecting on new beginnings, and wishing my younger self a good and sweet year.

L'shanah tovah umetzukah.

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Fine, here's your fourth post for the thread.

And the other end if the mall, because why not.

(Editor's note: The sky opened up an hour later and soaked Sara to the bone)

@saramg Thank you for sharing. I hope that going forward things will only continue to improve. #ShanaTova ๐Ÿ˜€