Yes. Quit my job. Broke up with the person I thought I would marry. Moved to NYC. All at 27. The real hack is knowing you can do this really at any age. Life is fluid and then you’re dead.
Live while you can.
Your mothers’ and grandmothers’ lives do not revolve around your existence. They have experiences from before you existed that they wouldn’t trade for an extra ten years with you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Go have your own diva
Unpopular opinion: I don't think your life has to have a purpose, or you a grand ambition; I think it's okay to just wander through life finding interesting things until you die
8 years ago i passed the NCLEX. Also 8 years ago my dad was diagnosed with heart failure. That shit traumatized me. He was on his hands and knees dripping in sweat and could barely breathe. He couldn’t talk, couldn’t tell me what was wrong. Called 911 they put me on fucking HOLD!
The city i lived in didn’t have a police department (if you’re from Birmingham you know what city 🙂) so the next town had to respond. They told me an ambulance was 20 minutes out. i told my mom we could not wait. I had to drag him to the car on a sheet because he couldn’t stand and he’s a big man. She was going 100 in a 70 with emergency lights. I’m really surprised we didn’t get pulled over.
We pulled into the ambulance bay at my job (i was a CNA in the ER) One of my coworkers saw me and ran out with a wheelchair. Got him to a room i started slapping ekg stickers on him and putting AED pads on him. Gathering everything like we were about to run a code while telling them what happened. My coworkers pulled me out and told me i wasn’t on the clock and that i didn’t need to see my dad like that. 2 of my coworkers sat me in the nurses station trying to comfort me. I wasn’t crying (yet) because it was so much adrenaline pumping through me.
About 30 minutes later they come out my mom is sobbing. I’m thinking i lost my dad. Mind you i took the Nclex that morning so i was already stressed out. She was crying because he was finally ok. He was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. He was fluid overloaded. Lasix did the trick. They admitted him to ICU he was stable and we went home. I couldn’t sleep worrying about my dad and worrying about my results.
The next morning i got on the BON website and saw that i had passed my boards. I finally released all those tears i was holding in. We FaceTimed my dad i told him i passed my boards. He was walking around the unit at the time. He told everybody that i was a nurse now and i heard clapping and congratulations in the background. He was so proud 🥹.
He eventually got some stints placed and was sent home a week later. I had to force his ass to go to cardiac rehab for 3 months but he did it 3 times a week and i made sure of it. He takes very good care of himself now. He credits his survival to me every time he tells the story 🥹😭. I’m just really glad that i still have my daddy. Happy Father’s Day, Moon ❤️
I’m honestly tired of being at that age where if you are single and don’t have any kids, everything is immediately invalid after you’ve built a great conversation with someone and they ask you about your accomplishments. “But one day you will-“ but I’m doing so much NOW
Building community in your 40s/midlife can be hard but I also feel like folk severely underestimate the massive impact of just showing up at the same place repeatedly until you become a regular. That’s how I rebuilt community after my parents died and my life collapsed.
I really cannot imagine the pain of having a baby by a man who begged me to have it, and then abandoning me / treating me like shit after it’s too late to get rid of it. I wouldn’t be able to mentally withstand that kind of pain, that’s one of the biggest reasons I’m childless.