Reflecting on a Decade

I hadn’t really put any thought into it until recently, much less had anything to say about it, but here we are at the end of a decade, on the precipice of what some might try to call a new era (there’s always at least one).  From my perspective, humans just find it neat, orderly, and convenient to look at history in a base 10 numerical system – not that I disagree, of course – so here’s my view on the last 10 years.

On January 31st, 1999, I was with my girlfriend (now wife) Jessica at her parents’ house.  Y2K was a big deal, so we were waiting to see what would happen.  Of course, by the time midnight hit here in the Midwest, we would have already known something was up from the other side of the world, but back then I was a little “chronocentric”, I suppose.  It turns out that around midnight the lights did flicker, but it was due to someone with really good driving skills playing chicken with a telephone pole.

January, 2000 – we closed on our first house on Erie Avenue here in Middletown.  I moved in a week later and began making it home.  I miss the house, but not the gas bill.

On July 15th, 2000, Jessica and I exchanged vows and became husband and wife.  If we had know then what we know now…  : )

On April 12th, 2002, Connor and all his 10 lb, 4.4 oz glory came into this world – well, actually, the doctor had to go in after him.  We’re still waiting on number 2.

January, 2003, we began attending the Vineyard Community Church, and joined a small group – close friends we share our lives with today.

During the summer 2004, our lives began some rapid change and growth.  Jessica left CRST, a job she had held for about 5 years, and for which they offered her an additional $10,000 a year to stay at. It wasn’t worth it.  We put our house up for sale, and I enrolled in police Academy.  We moved in with Jessica’s parents (and the rest of the Carberry clan) in September, just as Academy started

From fall 2004 to Spring 2005 I worked 42 to 47 hours a week and attended Police Academy five nights a week.  Looking back, it was the only way we lasted as long as we did at Jessica’s family’s house.  I was never home.

In June of 2005, we bought our current house.  The idea was to get something “apartment-sized” and easy to maintain, with a yard.  We did okay, I guess, but now we’ve outgrown it.

February 2006 – I left Diver’s, where I had worked since 1998, for the Middletown Police Department.  This was the culmination of a hiring process that began the previous May, just after I had finished Police Academy.

March, 2006 – I resigned from the Police Department after developing Panic Disorder (I pushed myself to hard to try to understand too much, too quickly and burnt myself out.  I was told by Major Hoffman and a few others that I was a “damn good cop.”  I am still on medication to this day, but I’ve learned how to cope with it.

From Spring 2006 to Summer 2007, I held two additional jobs.  The first, I was laid off after 3 months due to a sudden slump in the new housing industry.  The second was Parts Express, where Jessica still works in the Accounting Department.  I worked as an Invoicer, packing orders as they came down the line to be shipped, in the warehouse.

In January 2007, after nearly a year of serious soul searching, I decided that it was time to return to college, and enrolled in 4 classes my first semester back, earning a 4.0 GPA upon completion and was a member of the President’s list.  I am still in school and will earn my Associate Degree in Applied Science, CIT – Networking Concentration, in May 2010.

In July, 2007, I started as a PC Support Technician with Reynolds and Reynolds.  By December I was promoted to a new department, System Operations.  I spent 11 months there until, in November 2008, I was promoted to Network and Server Administration as a Data Center Engineer.  I now know a lot more about “Big IT” than I ever thought possible.

For the most part, 2009 has been unremarkable, and I think Jessica and I are due that.  We have both worked hard, and sacrificed a lot, tried and failed, not tried, and failed some more, persisted and overcome.  We are stronger, wiser, more in love, and better prepared for the future.  I suppose we head into the new decade with the hope that we can add another member to our family, move in to a bigger home where we aren’t so cramped, and continue to advance in our careers.  We hope that we can be half the parents that Connor needs us to be.  He’s so gifted and has so much potential that it frightens us that we are charged with helping him to reach his full potential.  We hope to be able to slow down a bit and be able to spend more time together, and with family and friends, hiking, walking, dining, laughing, and crying – LIVING.