14 years ago today I hopped on a plane in California and moved to Montana.

I came to finish a novel, and within a year, I finished it. For a while, I told others I was only going to stay for a year. I believed it. A year turned to two turned to 10 turned to 14. I built a life here, filled countless notebooks, finished another novel and started a few more, became an IT Director, then coached football, basketball, and track, I’m now teaching two classes somehow, I fell in love, grieved, got depressed too many times, recovered, and in 3 weeks, I turn 40. I now burn candles every Friday to remember those I’ve lost, and I bought myself a nice mechanical watch to help me readjust my relationship with time. I miss San Diego, and far too many times I’ve felt like I was wasting my life here in Montana.

But I’m still here, and I’m still trying to figure it out.