Years A-go

Just a few years ago, during a week like this one, I received an out of the blue phone call asking questions about a soap production endeavor in Connecticut. Within days, it seemed like a real possibility. And within months, after long stretches of unemployment and uncertainty and thoughts of changing my career path completely, I was commuting daily to be part of the endeavor. Though it lasted just six months, the project renewed my bank account, some old friendships, and my faith that maybe I could still make it work in TV.

It's hard to believe that the phone call was several years ago. It's hard to believe that it is now just a part of my past. But, I suppose, both the work-related and the family-related in our lives inevitably become that. One day they are huge and central, exciting, or devastating, or earth-shattering. And then, before we know it, they are just part of our history.

I remember the excitement I felt then. I remember the feeling of a new chance, the suspicion about something possibly too good to be true, the relief that a long-carried weight might be lifted. And so, while these moments fade into our history, clearly they remain part of our story.

It was just a few years ago, and yet now so far away. But what I took away from it doesn't go that far away...