I was 16, and my first life ended and my second life began. Before 16, I had traveled to every continent save Antarctica and South America. I dreamed of being an international lawyer, not even sure what that meant. Then one night my dad did not come from work. My mom waited and then called — no word. A couple of hours later, two or three police officers came to our house. They sat me and my mother down in the family room and announced that my dad has taken his life after work. He had gone to a gun club and put a bullet through his head. My life never was the same.
We lost our beautiful house. My mom remarried a good man but incomparable. I went to the Ivy League but struggled intensely at the end, getting stressed about graduation and what to do next. Since I have worked and gone back to school, but never with the correct guidance I so desperately needed. I am working, making less than I should, living w my mom and stepdad. It is not nearly the accolades I was looking for in this life. Spiritually I am fine, but materially I have next to nothing. I don’t have my own roof over my head nor my own car nor any possessions, and worst of all to me nearly next to no travel.