Back in Columbia, South Carolina, in the summer of 2016, we dreamed a dream together. As the hate flag finally came down from the Statehouse, to ten thousand people, crowded together in the broiling sun, I devised a plan, with the help of the Daily Kos community (which was much smaller then!) It was my escape from the serfdom of extreme poverty: leaving the South and finding a place in this hard old world where I wouldn’t have to swim so hard against the current. And now at long last I have found that place, where the climate suits my clothes: the beautiful, wild, southern Oregon coast.
When last we spoke I was pretty happy, after three years in Eugene. I had a few good friends and a job I liked, doing home care for the elderly. I was even practicing my spirituality, and things were looking up. I was still poor, though I did have health care, which was amazing; everyone should have it! I’d been frustrated because it was taking me so long to find a job in my field. The Eugene population is lousy with mental health practitioners. I’d go on interviews, but was rejected over and over. I was dealing better with the PTSD symptoms triggered by the election of the Unthinkable, which happened soon after I’d arrived from South Carolina. I made a couple of new friends from Colorado at the same time my women’s group was really taking off. We were generating power, and that inspired me to dream big dreams, set big goals, make big leaps.
I started applying for counseling jobs in towns along the coast, and I was selective. I only applied for jobs I really wanted, that were a good match for my skill set, that made me excited when I read the description. Within a month I got a call from an agency serving kids and families in North Bend/Coos Bay. It’s pretty rural, and very scenic, with lots of tourists in the summer (good-bye tourists! see you next year!) And I got the job! I almost didn’t take it; I didn’t really want to leave Eugene: my friends (so rare for me; I’m on the spectrum,) my favorite river spots, Saturday Market, the best thrift stores in America, Eugene is an exceptional place. But they made me an offer I could not refuse, and boom! I’m middle class, y’all! Look at me now, I did it! I have a car made this millenium, and I can afford fresh fruit. Praise Jesus!
I love my job so much, it occupies my entire intellect; it’s endlessly fascinating and very challenging. I work in a sort of treatment classroom located in a middle school, for kids with serious behavior issues. A probation officer told me a couple months ago that our youth were the most challenging he’d ever seen in his long career. We have a 1:2 ratio and the program is very intensive; there’s lots of work with the families and coordination with schools and DHS and Juvenile Justice. It’s super fun, I get to design activities and run groups and play games; I’m the team lead, so way too often it’s all up to me. I get to tell people what to do! It’s so weird! I’m having fun, and I get to do crafts too. The paperwork is pretty horrifying. But I will learn it.
So thank you, Daily Kos Class of 2016, for moving me to Oregon, changing my life, and for lifting me up, and being there for me, all these difficult years.
