1 bottle of meclizine hydrochloride motion sickness pills 1 receipt for Ruby’s in Redondo Beach 1 work order for flat tire repair from Sears, directions to same 1 resume 1 pair of destroyed Rayban sunglasses

Every Winter, for the past five or six years, we’ve gone on a whale watching cruise with family and friends on New Year’s day. I used these pills once and I should have used them another time when I didn’t. Some of us spend the day prior with my sister-in-law and her husband and the rest meet us at the pier in the morning. It’s always cold. We see whales 67% of the time. On the first cruise I took some pictures of whales. I haven’t since. In twenty years time I doubt I’ll remember them or the occasional sea sickness. All I think I’ll remember is the love, huddled together in the bow with our backs to the cold, the sea in our noses and on our lips, the lazy throb of the engine carrying us back to shore.

After our cruises we always go to Ruby’s, a 50’s themed diner off the pier. At Ruby’s you can get classic hamburgers, hot soup, fish and chips, and tables for 20 with great service without a reservation.

One New Year’s day, as we were about to leave, we discovered we had a flat tire. I don’t remember the logistics but I do remember waiting a long time for an $18 patch at Sears. Now that I think back on it, I was lucky to be able to get tire service at 4pm on New Year’s Day. I can’t find the name of the mechanic on the work order. I wish I knew his name…

My signature was different in 2006. I don’t know anything about handwriting analysis but, to me, my old signature lacks confidence. Heavy, awkward strokes, deliberate curls and loops. My signature is on the work order in three places and it’s different each time. 2006 was to be another year of transition for me. Several unconnected events, years in the making, were converging toward a new path. I couldn’t predict it but perhaps part of me felt the potential.

The resume is tattered, folded in quarters, stained with dirt and… coffee? The top entry reveals that I was laid off in January of 2005. That was a stressful New Year that turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. I think many people get comfortable in situations that they don’t actually like, trapped by the ease of it, unwilling to face the uncertainty and fear of change even though they claim to desire it. People like me. Being downsized was a brutal catalyst of change that forced me to go through the pain of choosing a better life. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But sometimes, to get someplace better, you have to jump without knowing exactly where you are going to land. 2005 taught me to try to make the most of the opportunity even if I’m shoved instead.

The sunglasses were stylish and overpriced though I think now that they were too small for my head and probably looked out of place on my unfashionably dressed body. They’re completely destroyed now, nearly a decade old. I don’t know why I hung onto them so long. The memory is lost. I vaguely recall a shop in a mall, we were there together, I don’t think we had our first child yet… I had just started or was about to start that job on my resume.

Everything goes into the trash now. It’s time to start a new cycle of memories.

Happy new year.

Comments

1. Marites on 2009-01-11 12:36:04 wrote: Just wonderful…

2. Nikolay on 2009-01-13 15:16:43 wrote: John, I like you writing style. I really hope you write a book (not technical!!!) some day… A book about life, perhaps.

3. John on 2009-01-18 22:02:59 wrote: Thanks.