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I committed a cardinal sin this morning. I forgot my reusable shopping bag when I went to the farmers' market. I left the house in a rush to get the the market before all the good stuff was gone, and in my haste, I left my bag at home. They always have plastic bags to put the produce in, but it wasn't until today that I realized nobody ever really uses them. As I strolled around the market picking out root veggies and the last of the summer tomatoes (and a few green ones for frying), I began to notice that everyone else had their Whole Foods and Trader Joe's bags slung over their shoulders. There was even a token bag from The Strand . What can I say, I live in a hipster neighborhood. And there I was, conspicuously without one. What had started out as a jolly shopping trip turned into a covert operation as I skulked around the stalls trying not to be noticed. But the real trouble began when I got in line to pay. I stood there behind...
I checked into the hotel with just the clothes on my back, my phone, and my wallet. Minutes earlier, I had walked out of our now-empty home for the last time, having purged the remaining bits of our life into the garbage. Just before I left, I snapped one last picture of our beautiful view of Thomas Circle and tweeted , "I don't live here anymore." It took my breath away how much it hurt. The woman at the hotel desk handed me a package with the clothes I would wear and a purse I was borrowing from my mother. They were the only possessions I had. I swallowed the lump in my throat and went to my room. As I stripped off my clothes and put them into a garbage bag, I thought to myself, "How did I get here? How had I survived the past year? Would I survive what was coming next? What was coming next?" There I was, in nothing, with nothing, and I couldn't fathom how I was going to put my life back together. I didn't know if WH was ever going to get better....
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. --Dr. Seuss Sometimes it's hard to believe how fast time passes. I don't really feel any older. High school feels like yesterday . . . when in reality, I graduated almost 18 years ago. I was reminded of the passage of time today when I saw a friend's Facebook post remembering one of our teachers. Mr. Campbell died 17 years ago today, and yet it feels like it just happened. Mr. Campbell was one of a kind. He taught sociology in a way that was so far ahead of its time. He always treated us like adu...