Pivot Points.

Maybe it's just me getting older, but I'm getting more & more introspective. This morning I woke up & my mind leaped into gear and I pondered life's little "pivot points".

According to one online dictionary, pivot is described as follows:

"A person, thing, or factor having a major or central role, function, or effect."

So here's what I came up with as a few crucial pivot points in my life:

Michele:
16 years later I can still tell you exactly what she was wearing the first time I noticed her. She was a goddess on earth - God's perfect woman. She brought out some of my best qualities, even when I was such an asshole. Being with her changed me, being without her has changed me a million times more. Nothing in life ever prepared me for losing her & her family. The asshole I was died the second I walked out her door for the last time. And even though there have been women since her, none of them can even come close to what she is to me. Her loss was my own personal version of Armageddon.

The therapy years:
A direct result of the above. When my world collapsed and I hit rock bottom at the speed of light, I knew I had to get help. Therapy forced me into dealing with the crap I'd been dealing with for years. Kirk Hammett said "They crack you open like an egg", and he was right. It wasn't fun, but it definitely worked.

9/11:
The horror & tragedy of that day is still fresh, even after almost 8 years. After that, I knew life would never been the same.