An Unhappy Anniversary

This past weekend was a little rough for me, as it is most years, and not just because it was Fathers' Day.  Seriously, seeing so many people thanking the fathers in their lives, or by being one themselves, frequently brings out how much I missed out on growing up without one and how much I am missing out on by not being one yet.  No, this year was somewhat bad because it is the fifteenth anniversary of the flood that destroyed my home. It occurred about twenty years after the first major flood that had rocked my world.  That time, we lost a lot, but this time was worse, mostly because I had more to lose.  Most of the stuff I owned was paper-based, easily destroyed by water.  I lost hundreds, if not a thousand comic books and magazines.  I lost all but one of my college textbooks, as well as the majority of my collection of other books in my collection of new age material.  Worst of all was the loss of all twelve yearbooks covering my thirteen years of school (I missed out on the annual one year).  In fact, almost all of the evidence of my childhood was gone.  The few things that remained, I barely try to even look at, most of it in such bad shape.  To add insult to injury, I had finally decided  to chose a career, after years of contemplating.  At was mostly down to two choices, with secondary goals yet to be decided.  I had, what I thought, was a great idea for a book series.  I had been working on it for a months.  I was going to actually start writing it.  Or, I would start on a prospective project for a role-playing game publisher that really wanted to work with.   I was going to start on the Monday after the flood for the one project I felt had the best chance.  The flood took all my notes, as well as well over half of my game supplements.  I would have needed both to do either project.  While I would later recreate and evolve my ideas for a book, I had lost much of the thrill for it.  The ideas are still there, but I have since moved on to an easier subject.  As for the game publisher, it changed its business model a few months later.  It has since gone on to change so many times, that I haven't been able to keep up with it lately.  I still like it, but I doubt I'll ever work directly with them.  It has only been in the last year that I finally have chosen  a new path to take, one that would have been evident decades ago, if only I had the support to see it.  That flood took so much from me.  Sure, it was mostly material items, but for me, it was my last links to a past that I couldn't forget.  I haven't even mentioned some of the other things I lost, or the many hassles I have face since then with both my old home and where I now stay.  All I need to say is that I am finally catching up to where I should have been, where I needed to be all along.  If anything else, I can say that it makes me feel a little happier, and what else can I ask for.