10 years ago

On one of my online communities, someone asked what we were doing 10 years ago. I've been thinking about this question a lot over the last few days.

1997 was one of the worst years of my life but ended on a promising note. It was the year my father died, which explains why it was the worst year of my life. I finished up my last bout as a VISTA volunteer. I worked as a research consultant for a small non-profit company on a part-time basis before I joined library school. In December of 1997, I was most likely finishing up my first semester as a graduate student. I was a weekend circulation manager at a large academic health sciences library. I had just been hired as a full-time serials assistant at an area university library.

I lived in 3 different apartments that year. I started off living in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was an apartment in one of the condos set aside for VISTA and AmeriCorps volunteers. I quickly moved out of there when I left VISTA to live in an East Lakeview studio apartment. It was in a high rise building very close to Lake Michigan. It was incredibly small with very little sound proofing. In December of 1997, I had been living for several months in a coach house apartment in Lakeview.

I came out to my family and close friends in 1997. Nicole and I started dating in June 1997. In August 1997, she backed out of a job teaching English in Taiwan for a year. She decided the day she was supposed to fly to Seattle for her training that she wanted to stay in Chicago with me. She had already moved her belongings to Boston, quit her job and moved out of her apartment. We had to find her a job, find a place to live, and get her things back from Boston. We were about ready to celebrate our first holiday together with her Hannukah decorations alongside our little Christmas tree. We thought we would be together forever. We were just starting the conversation about adopting a dog.

Now I am a librarian, back in a health sciences library and still involved with serials. I am still doing all sorts of crazy things for love but am a little more weary and less trusting as I was back in 1997. I am in Portland. I live in a nice apartment with excellent sound proofing and no leaky ceilings. Nicole and I are still friends after a 5-year relationship. At the time, my best companion was only three months old.

I won't go into comparing 2007 to 1997 other than to say that I am glad that this year is coming to a close. Like 1997, I still really miss my dad.