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[Aristus]

49. 1985.

My junior year in high school. It's largely a blur. I only remember isolated events. It was the year after my parents separated. And the year their divorce was finalized. The year I discovered that my Dad had squandered the college fund he had set up in the 60's for me and my sister, and that there would be no money for college. I was alone at my school. My sister had graduated the year before, and my brother would not start there for another year. So there was no emotional support during my school day. My grades tumbled. I spent less and less time on school projects and sports, and more and more time sleeping. I watched my mother struggle to keep the family going and make the payment on a house we couldn't really afford but were unable to sell. She had to field nasty phone calls from credit card companies who were looking for my father. He had maxed out every card he had and then left the country. She worked the thankless job of a substitute teacher, and when she wasn't called for a job, she worked telemarketing for a squalid carpet cleaning firm. I watched her burst into tears over her dinner plate night after night. My brother and I, tightly-knit from a very early age, grew more distant from each other, and more hostile.

Acknowledging that it could have been far worse, and that many people have had much worse years, this was still my own personal worst.

Even today, I look back on it, and celebrate with joy the fact that my family and I moved past that year, and are today happy and successful.