For Kyle At 22

What a year it has been.

You’ve had a rough year of it. Turning 21 is supposed to be a milestone, a sort of arbitrary signalling of full adulthood.

Boy did that not work out.

Let’s not get too much into the whole “college” issue. Having to move out and find your own place as well as a way to pay for it was hard. I would have liked to have been able to help you, but being 280 miles away wasn’t really conducive to that. Still you managed to do it.

Then you proceeded to wind up getting in over your head in debt. You couldn’t pay for your apartment and things were getting worse.

You had to move back home. I’m sure it felt like a defeat. It felt like it to me too.

Adding insult to injury we left you home while the rest of us went to Ireland. Granted, when we purchased our tickets we thought you would be working over the summer in Spokane, but still, I’m sure it wasn’t a high point in your life to not be included.

You worked some off and on over the intervening months, but nothing steady. So much of your time was sort of, at least as I could see, a holding pattern. There wasn’t much in the way of forward movement. Maybe you saw it differently. I do know you weren’t having a great time of it. Getting hired by UPS for the seasonal work helped, and it helped the rest of the household too. Yes, it would have been nice to have that turn into full time regular employment, but as is so often the case, the term “them’s the breaks” applies here.

And then for months you kept looking and not finding work. Having your parents get on you about it every other day sure didn’t make you feel good about that. Heck, we were frustrated too. I’m sure you could see that.

What it interesting is that when you did find a job, even a small part time job, your mood improved. Greatly. Then another part time job made things even better.

Over the last 2 weeks there has been a significant shift in your mood. You’re much more sociable. You’re more pleasant to be around. You’re engaging in conversation. In short, you’re back to being much more like “you” that we have come to expect.

Celebrating your birthday actually felt like a celebration. I am much more optimistic about your future than I was a year ago or 6 months ago. I’m sure you are too. It is nice to see you happier.

22 should be a heck of a lot better than 21. Here’s to your future!