On July 1st, 2019 I arrived in Seattle with my car packed to the brim with a lot of my stuff. It was past 9PM but there was still a little bit of sun on the horizon which was a sign of things to come.
Since I have moved here life has changed for me drastically… and it’s all for the better.
For the first time in my life I have stable income, a stable place to live and a wonderful life partner that is by my side to enjoy.
The first couple of weeks here were very hard while I navigated getting setup with work and figuring out where to live. Fortunately I had amazing AirBNB hosts that allowed me to stay as long as I needed to get settled and get on my feet.
At the end of August my life partner moved up from San Diego to join me was able to find a full time job and a part time seasonal job in under a week after years of slammed doors in LA. As a result we got married on November 5th, 2019 (remember, remember the 5th of November?) at sunset at Kerry Park which overlooks Seattle.
In Mid-November we found an amazing apartment in Greenwood very close to the AirBNB that I was staying at which is very close to downtown and other spots that are busy for rideshare drivers. With two full-time incomes we were able to get a 2 bedrooms that cost less than what we paid for rent in LA! We’ve had a few maintenance issues but the apartment itself is really nice.
Obviously in the past couple of weeks things here in Seattle have changed quite a bit due to COVID hype and hoopla. All of the major employers here have people working from home and now schools are canceled until the end of March. Hopefully in a few weeks the hype and hysteria will settle down and things will slowly get back to normal. Although my partners job has not been affected Rideshare business has been decimated. Thankfully with expenses being much lower, and my health being much better, I am able to work longer hours to compensate and in theory things should be fine.
I’ll close with this thought…
A year ago I was at the 2nd lowest moment in my life. My health was in bad shape, we were being evicted from our apartment, my car insurance and car payment were months past due and someone stole my identity to open fraudulent credit cards. I was pretty sure I’d end up on the street, alone and with no hope for a future. While I didn’t contemplate outright suicide I did contemplate stopping all of my medication and just giving up and going to a hospital to live out my life.
Thankfully friends, family and providence got us through the storm and now the glow of the morning is here at last…
Morning glow morning glow
Starts to glimmer when you know
Winds of change are set to blow
And sweep this whole land through
Morning glow is long past dueMorning glow fill the earth
Come on shine far all you’re worth
We’ll be present at the birth
Of all faith looking new
Morning glow is long past dueOh oh morning glow
I’d like to help you grow
You should have started long agoMorning glow all day long
For we sing tomorrow’s song
Never knew we could be so strong
But now it’s very clear
Morning glow is almost hereOh oh morning glow
I’d like to help you grow
We should have started long agoMorning glow all your life
“Morning Glow” from “Pippen” By Stephen Schwartz
We can make the new day right
All the bad songs of the night
Will fade into the past
Morning glow is here at last