20 Years

20 years ago today. Wow! But, let’s start three days earlier…

It was midafternoon on my second day of travel from home. A cold, bleary, Ohio winter day. What early January generally brings to the Midwest.

I was traveling under the final underpass before my exit off I75. It was Sunday and I had to meet the folks at the apartment complex I was moving into before they left for the day. While I had lived for six years in Ohio when I was younger, I had never been to this city as I had lived in the north eastern part of the state.

I had accepted this year long consulting position figuring I knew Ohio and it wouldn’t be a big deal. Well, I didn’t know this Ohio. Flat, very flat. Ancient swampland flat. I was coming from Colorado and I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of flat.

But, like anywhere else I’ve lived, I knew I would find beautiful places around the area. I did too!

Anyway, I got to the apartment complex in time and quickly got squared away with my new home and the facilities associated with it. One of the reasons I selected this complex was the garage (no window scraping) and it was close to work. The place was “older” but well maintained and clean.

I unloaded my car (a small hatchback) and headed out to see where the stores were. I had only brought what would fit in the car, which wasn’t much as I brought my bike with me (the most important thing). I figured I’d buy the minimum to get by for a year. Nothing fancy, just a couple of basics.

It was just me here. The family was back in Colorado. I would be working locally and “living” remotely. The plan was to fly home once a month for an extended weekend.

Over the next couple of days, I slowly got settled and was ready for my first day on the fifth. Like any new job, there was a lot to learn, business wise, process wise and people wise.

That was 20 years ago. That year gig lasted a little longer than I thought it would. After a couple of years in Ohio, I moved back to Colorado and have been working remotely since. Most of the folks that were there when I started have moved on or retired although there are a few left. All those processes have changed over the years and what was a family has become a commodity. Change is good, but not always.

What I remember most about those first few days wasn’t the work but the people I met and how they made me feel welcome and created that family feeling I mentioned above.

The other thing I remember was the cold, the bleakness and the incredible loneliness of being in a new place. It was almost overwhelming. But, like most things, it canI overcame it and it slide into the rear view mirror.

What a metaphor, that rear view mirror. I am looking through it now and see most of my career in it. I see way more good than bad. I see change, I see so many people. Friends, coworkers, acquaintances. The thing though is just how fast those scenes go by in that mirror and yet, it also seems like they haven’t even made it by the side windows yet as they are still so fresh in my mind.

Where does the time go? How can 20 years happen so quickly? Can I hold onto it or will it slip through my fingers like water? Should I hold onto it or just look out the windshield and see what is in front of me and not worry about that rear view mirror?

I don’t know. Probably both. Like the line I heard in one of my favorite movies, it is all “smoke through a keyhole”. That it is, but it was also something precious, something that will never happen again and something that was unique to everyone that experienced it.

Here’s to your unique experiences! Here’s to the joy, the sorrow, the good times and the bad! Here’s to life and the road ahead! May it be a road well traveled and a life well lived.