Teeth, Love, and Growing Up

     Dear EN502,      Hello, it’s been a while. I’ve sat down at my computer several times to try and put everything into words but didn’t know how. Eventually, the distance I put between myself and writing felt too big to breach, so here I am, at the end of May. Determined to share something.      In March I experienced an event that, in terms of video game vocabulary, dealt a lot of emotional damage.      Uncovering childhood wounds: -800EHP (Emotional Hit Points).      I’ve been trying to regain that EHP ever since, but facing that deep-down hurt has been really hard, and scary, and I’ve done a lot of crying.      Crying in the car: +10XP. +5 Combo points for doing it multiple times.      Crying in the staff office: +25XP.      Crying in the staff lounge: +25XP, +25 bonus XP for doing it in front of two of my managers.      Crying violently on the ste...

It's Monday morning and I'm sitting in my office, which is eerily quiet. One of my bosses is out of town and the other is working from home today, which is an anomaly. This morning, my best friend from home, Gabi, left after spending four days here with me. We waved at each other through three layers of glass (two doors and a car window) until I could no longer see her Uber. We've been sad about it since last night. Her trip here spoiled me. She arrived last Thursday after a redeye flight, just as I was starting my day. The timing of her flights allowed us to stretch every minute we had together as far as we possibly could. She integrated herself so seamlessly into my day-to-day life that I think it will feel odd when I get home and she isn't there, even though it was her first time ever visiting me on the east coast. I remember one particular moment last night, when I was walking back from the kitchen to my room after filling up my water bottle. We were getting ready f...