25 years ago, (before i was mom) i had this whole other life.
it was waaaay back in 2010, i was half the age i am now...on my way to becoming a city planner and living in oakland with your auntie frances, auntie bev and mochi, auntie bev's dog.
it was great. we were young college grads, traveling as often as our vacation accruements & disposable incomes would allow, and only really certain of our favorite bar in the city.
don't get me wrong though. our early twenties weren't all handshakes and happy hours. we had just capped off one hell of a decade. i know people my age say we grew up in the 90's, but it was really the 00's when we became adults: maneuvering our way through high school and then college, acknowledging the rough realities of society and the world; and eventually stumbling into careers (or grad schools) to stake our niche to meet these challenges.
by the time 2009 rolled around, we thought we were primed for a new beginning. it was the year barack obama became the 44th president. your uncle vaughn, auntie melissa and i even went to washington dc to see that historic inauguration. but i will get to that part of the story in a little bit...
as i was saying, 2009 started off with a lot of hope. unfortunately as the year progressed, it seemed like there was always another tragedy, another death, another disaster. and to add, the decade ended with the state budget still in the dumps, "the great recession" continuing to afflict our national economy, and a handful of friends and relatives unemployed.
seems like a grim context to start a tale, but kids, this is the story of how i met...
