July 2, 2007 7:11 AM

The more things change...the more they change

Yesterday marked 10 years since I arrived in Houston to stay. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and it’s even harder to believe where life has taken me during that time.

I left Portland, OR on June 26, 1997, with half my belongings and my cat, Makis, stuffed into my ‘92 Geo Metro. It was sunny and 70 degrees as I left Portland. Five days later, I rolled into Houston, where it was in the mid-90s and the humidity was off the freakin’ chart. I thought I’d driven straight into Hell…and the rest of that summer did little to disabuse me of that notion. It was a miserably hot and uncomfortable time…though it did wonders for my suntan, most of which has yet to fade ten years later.

The fact that I could fit half of my worldly belongings AND a cat into a Geo Metro ought to provide an indication of just how little stuff I had. Not only that, when I arrived in Houston, I had $350 to my name…and no job. Talk about taking a leap of faith. I had no idea as to what I was going to do or what I was getting myself into.

I had a decent-paying job within a week, and for the most part I’ve been gainfully employed since then. I haven’t always been in love with my job, depending on what I was doing, but it fed the bulldog and paid the rent. The rest, as they say, is history. Now I have a better job, a family, a mortgage, a 401k, and a much nicer car than I arrived with 10 years ago. Best of all, it’s paid off. Makis died six-and-a-half years ago after being with me for 15 years, but the memories are still with me…and I still miss him.

Ten years is a long time in many respects, but when I look back I can’t help but wonder where the time has gone. Suddenly, I’m closer to 50 then I care to be, and I’m having to deal with all of the creakiness of middle age. Every morning when I get up, something else hurts. I suppose that’s just part of the process. Time waits for no one, and it usually has it’s way with all of us. Yeah, getting older sucks at times, but it sure as Hell beats the alternative.

I never cease to be amazed at the directions in which life leads me. I never thought I’d have remarried AND be a stepfather…and yet here I am. If you had told me when I was in college in Minnesota that I’d one day be living on the Texas Gulf Coast…I’d have laughed and bought you another beer. No way, dude; I wanted to go to Seattle…and fifteen years in Portland was more than close enough for me.

Ten years later, and I still haven’t managed to adapt to the humidity. I don’t mind the heat, but I HATE the humidity. It’s like anywhere else I’ve been, though. There are always trade-offs, and if I’ve learned one thing in all my travels, it’s that you can be happy anywhere; all you have to do is to put your mind to it and decide that you’re going to make it work.

I wonder what the next ten years have in store for me?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 2, 2007 7:11 AM.

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