Four Years Later...

I haven’t written anything in quite a while, and after reading this you may understand. I took time to make some major life changes, suffered some expected setbacks, and wanted to settle in and create some semblance of normalcy before I tried to put it into words.

Had I tried to tell this story at any point during the last three years, it would have been an unhinged word salad driven by fear of the unknown and changing mid-sentence paragraph by paragraph. Today, I feel comfortable telling it.

Firstly, let me start by saying my new home is Cleveland, Ohio. That is so surreal to say, and despite us going into year three here, and me having weird moments where I freak out that I live here once a month, I have not felt so part of a city as I do here in my life. I loved Memphis, and if you have followed my writing, you know that, but I’m in love with Cleveland. Like Memphis is my sibling, and Cleveland is my chosen partner. We are thriving here and even with the usual suspects of struggles one goes through in life, we still feel hopeful here.

Secondly, I went back to school and almost have a BA in Health Sciences, Pre-Physician Asssistant Studies with a dual Minor in Biology and Psychology (Concentration in Cognition & Neuroscience). Of all the things I have done in my life, aside from everything involving my children, that sentence embodies what I am most proud of. As I began this journey, I was horrified I wouldn’t finish, I was too old, my memory was too gone, yet here I am and I am doing it with a decent GPA and nearing the finish line.

My mother abruptly passed in 2022, right before the semester began, and last Thanksgiving I received horrific news surrounding her death. I barely made it through the Fall 2022 semester. This year I fell down the stairs resulting in a diagnosis of a torn meniscus, concussion, and eventually chondromalacia, yet still managed to pass. This is thanks to my professors being understanding, and allowing me extensions, but nothing has been fatal like my first attempt at school. Cleveland State seems as invested in seeing me succeed as I am, which is brilliant for their long-term future as far as alumni loyalty.

I am healing, prepping for surgery to repair the knee, and getting ready for my final semesters. I can’t tell you how much I had to hold back tears when I saw the invitation to apply for graduation pop up on my student back-office screen. Maybe everyone else has that reaction, but it feels particularly intense in my case after decades of being just shy of my degree.

Lastly, Virtuosity is pretty much gone. It didn’t survive COVID-19 and the subsequent awfulness of people following COVID-19 in our hometown. We tried pivoting and pivoting again, but in the long run, there was just nothing we could do to keep it going. It was heartbreaking, but I feel everything happens for a reason. The loss of our beloved music business led to me taking a spot at the Cleveland State College radio station to dip my feet in what I love. I have a first Thursday of the month show 9-11 PM and will occasionally pick one up throughout the week.

I went from working with some of the most talented musicians on the planet who helped me grow, taught me about my faith, life, and opened my mind, heart, and spirit to prepping to help save lives in only four years. My life successfully made a 180, and no one will ever tell me anything is impossible again. So much has changed, but I haven’t felt more like myself in decades.