I was born in Philadelphia and called it my home town for about 22 years of my life. In November of 2004 I moved out to Chicago, IL after a series of unfortunate events (yeah I'm a Snicket's fan...). The short story of it is my Mother and Father moved to Chicago because my old man got a job that relocated him. I was living in the bottom level/basement of my sister and her husband's house in Philly and one day the house burned down destroying everything I owned as the basement took the most damage from the fire PLUS the water damage on top of the firefighters smashing things.
Within a few months I also would be cheated on by my girlfriend of 6 years and lose my job. I ended up breaking down and accepting my Dad's invitation to come stay with him and my Mom for a while til I got back on my feet. I was being charged by friends and family to STAY with them here n there just so I wouldn't be sleeping on the streets. Turned out I could have probably gotten a hotel room and saved some money but I ended up going flat broke with no way of recovering. I'm still in the hole pretty big but that's a whole different story..
I moved to Melrose Park Illinois which is about 10 minutes from the city of Chicago. My life was a frustrating mess as I was constantly depressed and even though I was getting a fresh start in a brand new place I was finding it very hard to catch a break. Friends I would make I ended up getting stabbed in the back and girlfriends would cheat on me so for a little while I was just being a "pimp" daddy and ran through women trying not to catch feelings because I was just tired of being made a fool of. I drank like a mad man and while the rest of the world was spiraling out of control for me I was finding comfort in my only friend at the time, marijuana...
That will be another blog all in itself...
I spent about a year and a half I think it was just struggling to find a reason to not put a bullet in my head. Honestly I felt like I had no hope at all to go anywhere in life or that I would ever matter to anyone. I know my Mama loved me but I explained to her once when she seemed offended by my statement that I was all alone in the world. I actually listen to the song "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" by Al Green and think of this conversation I had with my Mom and I remember her smile when she understood me. It's not often that your parents can truly understand you and that is a fact no matter how hard you try to tell me otherwise. Will Smith was right.
I was working a factory job and just working all the time. One night in January 2006 I decided to go to the bar. It was a saturday night and I was actually ready to go to bed early as heck! I was feeling restless and actually kinda lonely so I sat up and said "going to the bar...". I was sitting at the bar not to long after and was drinking pitchers of MGD cause they were only 3 dollars a pitcher or something cheap like that. I said screw the glass at one point and just started carrying around my pitcher, sipping from it. I don't miss alcohol much to be honest with you, by the way....
Suddenly my attention was drawn directly to the door as I saw this group of people coming in. More like I was checking out one of the ladies in that group and I felt this strange sensation throughout my body. No perverts not those kinds of sensations, minds out of the gutter please! I will credit alcohol with giving me the courage to talk to this woman and with my liquid courage I had her and a crowd at the bar highly entertained. Her name was Angela and I was so attracted to everything about her. We had a hell of a night watching an incredible Rolling Stone's cover band which the lead singer WAS Mick Jagger I mean the guy looked just like him.
She took me back to her place after we closed down a couple of after parties and we actually both passed out before any freaky deaky stuff could take place. I think I ended up spending about 200 dollars on hennessy and MGD plus I felt bad for this little hindu guy sitting alone at the bar all sad lookin' and he ran out of money and some people were making some stupid comments so I told the bartender that he was with me so to put him on my tab. I can't help but care about people around me even if I do not know them like THAT.
Angela and I have been together ever since that day minus one break up period during the days that lead up to my being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The bond that we share is very strong and we actually feel as though we are indeed soul mates. I had to go through a life of pain and misery to finally be where I am today. I wouldn't be here right now if not for that plane ticket I got, one way from Philadelphia to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. I've been adopted by Chicago and I am thankful that I survived.
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