I'm sitting in an uber, on my way to a hotel. Specifically, the hotel that I've been checked into since around September--the time of the flood. In the coming few days, the free government provided hotel will expire, and the last remaining matter of the hurricane will finally be settled. I've since moved out of the hotel, my car has been fixed, beds and appliances have been purchased, and everything is finally "normal" again.
What makes me so melancholic and reflective, is that I saw a picture of my old house, before the storm, before the destruction, and it made me think--so much has changed throughout 2017. So, so much.
In January--this time last year--everything was great. I was preparing to go to college in the fall, I was trying to improve my writing skills, and I had a confident and excited view of the future.
In February, my cat had kittens, and I had gotten attached to the cute little fluffy baby cats. When the litter began to weaken, and slowly die, I took it upon myself to bike a kitten in a backpack to a vet, in hopes of saving it. It was a vain and naive attempt at trying to preserve life. The kittens were unviable from birth, and so the last baby kitty died in my lap, as I cried over the whole tragedy of it all.
March and April picked up a bit, in terms of happiness. For the most part, I just played lots of video games, studied, and read books. I learned about tons of things, and I even started to get back into some old hobbies, like drawing!
May was the best month of the year for me. I met my boyfriend, I cut ties with toxic people, I gained a lot of confidence, and I was happy. Everything was on an upswing! I started trying to reach out to other GBAtemp users and make new friends, I had tons of ideas and plans for what I wanted to do for the year, and life was exciting!
June was nearly just as amazing. I got to go to E3 again, and while it was way more overwhelming this year, I also had so much fun! There's nothing comparable to how impressive of an event it is, and how happy I was to be offered another chance to go to E3. I had new experiences, stepped outside of my comfort zone, and the world felt so full of possibilities and excitement!
Which is a bit of a shame, seeing as July was an unholy nightmare month. Four of my cats died suddenly and without warning, all on the same day. The vet couldn't find a cause for it, there was no explaination, and it was haunting. Having to watch all that was one of the worst things I've ever dealt with in my life, being helpless, watching your beloved pets die, the look in their eyes. I had two cats live through it, by virtue of having to inject them for a week with a huge needle of fluid, but they lived. I was relieved at that fact, at the very least.
August, of course, took one look at July, and told it, "You think that's bad? Hold my beer." The first half of the month was me slowly getting over last month's trauma. The second half was pure insanity. Hurricane Harvey destroyed my home, along with most of my possessions in the span of a night, leaving me homeless and scared. Once the terror of spending hours calling the coast guard and police, sitting on a table that was starting to float around the living room wore off, wondering if the then shoulder-high water would drown me, I felt blank. Everything felt surreal and dreamlike. I sat on the cold tile floor of a school cafeteria, looking out a window, watching my house continue to fill with water throughout the night.
I was snapped out of it, however, when I saw the reaction on GBAtemp. So many people praying, sending well-wishes, asking if I was okay, donating, just so much outpouring of support. It was nothing short of amazing, and to this day, I'm still eternally humbled and grateful and so lucky to have had that.
September and October were a blur. There was fear about if insurance would cover the cost to repair my car, there was the worry about where we'd live, and trying to make life "normal" again.
By November, things had settled, and though there were quirks and a lot of new things to have to learn to deal with, I got used to the change and happily began to move on from the flood. I wasn't constantly revolving around that one moment, I was finally free to start walking forward.
December was a wonderful month. I wasn't really active online throughout most of it, but I spent time with loved ones and relaxed, celebrated my 21st birthday, and realized just how much I've changed in 2017. So much is different than it was the year prior. I never want to be defined by the flood and hurricane, and that event was horrible and I'd never want to live through it again, but I feel like thanks to the support I had, I've moved past all of that and gotten through as a stronger, better person for it. I'll never be able to thank everyone enough, for everything.
As I move forward into 2018, I hope that I'll continue growing as a person and improving myself. Life may be crazy, but I'll keep moving forward, no matter what!
I appreciate anyone who read through this blog. In retrospect, it's a useless string of words I rambled while bored in a car. To celebrate your making it to the end, I have a cute picture of my cat for you! Hooray!
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What makes me so melancholic and reflective, is that I saw a picture of my old house, before the storm, before the destruction, and it made me think--so much has changed throughout 2017. So, so much.
In January--this time last year--everything was great. I was preparing to go to college in the fall, I was trying to improve my writing skills, and I had a confident and excited view of the future.
In February, my cat had kittens, and I had gotten attached to the cute little fluffy baby cats. When the litter began to weaken, and slowly die, I took it upon myself to bike a kitten in a backpack to a vet, in hopes of saving it. It was a vain and naive attempt at trying to preserve life. The kittens were unviable from birth, and so the last baby kitty died in my lap, as I cried over the whole tragedy of it all.
March and April picked up a bit, in terms of happiness. For the most part, I just played lots of video games, studied, and read books. I learned about tons of things, and I even started to get back into some old hobbies, like drawing!
May was the best month of the year for me. I met my boyfriend, I cut ties with toxic people, I gained a lot of confidence, and I was happy. Everything was on an upswing! I started trying to reach out to other GBAtemp users and make new friends, I had tons of ideas and plans for what I wanted to do for the year, and life was exciting!
June was nearly just as amazing. I got to go to E3 again, and while it was way more overwhelming this year, I also had so much fun! There's nothing comparable to how impressive of an event it is, and how happy I was to be offered another chance to go to E3. I had new experiences, stepped outside of my comfort zone, and the world felt so full of possibilities and excitement!
Which is a bit of a shame, seeing as July was an unholy nightmare month. Four of my cats died suddenly and without warning, all on the same day. The vet couldn't find a cause for it, there was no explaination, and it was haunting. Having to watch all that was one of the worst things I've ever dealt with in my life, being helpless, watching your beloved pets die, the look in their eyes. I had two cats live through it, by virtue of having to inject them for a week with a huge needle of fluid, but they lived. I was relieved at that fact, at the very least.
August, of course, took one look at July, and told it, "You think that's bad? Hold my beer." The first half of the month was me slowly getting over last month's trauma. The second half was pure insanity. Hurricane Harvey destroyed my home, along with most of my possessions in the span of a night, leaving me homeless and scared. Once the terror of spending hours calling the coast guard and police, sitting on a table that was starting to float around the living room wore off, wondering if the then shoulder-high water would drown me, I felt blank. Everything felt surreal and dreamlike. I sat on the cold tile floor of a school cafeteria, looking out a window, watching my house continue to fill with water throughout the night.
I was snapped out of it, however, when I saw the reaction on GBAtemp. So many people praying, sending well-wishes, asking if I was okay, donating, just so much outpouring of support. It was nothing short of amazing, and to this day, I'm still eternally humbled and grateful and so lucky to have had that.
September and October were a blur. There was fear about if insurance would cover the cost to repair my car, there was the worry about where we'd live, and trying to make life "normal" again.
By November, things had settled, and though there were quirks and a lot of new things to have to learn to deal with, I got used to the change and happily began to move on from the flood. I wasn't constantly revolving around that one moment, I was finally free to start walking forward.
December was a wonderful month. I wasn't really active online throughout most of it, but I spent time with loved ones and relaxed, celebrated my 21st birthday, and realized just how much I've changed in 2017. So much is different than it was the year prior. I never want to be defined by the flood and hurricane, and that event was horrible and I'd never want to live through it again, but I feel like thanks to the support I had, I've moved past all of that and gotten through as a stronger, better person for it. I'll never be able to thank everyone enough, for everything.
As I move forward into 2018, I hope that I'll continue growing as a person and improving myself. Life may be crazy, but I'll keep moving forward, no matter what!
I appreciate anyone who read through this blog. In retrospect, it's a useless string of words I rambled while bored in a car. To celebrate your making it to the end, I have a cute picture of my cat for you! Hooray!
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