Time traveler lesson 4 of a writing course 1069 words

The day began as any other day; I was at home with my wife and kids. Then I began to notice strange things going on. In conversation with my wife, we said:

“Sorry honey I have to go, work waits for me.”

 “Don’t forget your lunch sweetie.”

“Wait isn’t that Mr. Jameson and didn’t I just help him up the stairs just yesterday?”

“Yes you did dear.”

“Well now he looks like he’s 17. What’s going on here?”

 “It could be Mr. Jameson grandson dear you know.”

“I agree Susan. I’m off to work.”

Driving home from work on January 31, 2011 I just miss hitting a deer instead I hit a pole and boy is Susan going to be mad I totaled another car. My eyes seem blurry and the world around me seems to be half black and white and half color. But instead of the regular colors they almost seem cartoon like. I think I’m having a bad dream nothing around me seems to make sense. I decided to examine my surroundings.

As I try to get up I felt weak kneed and I fall back into the driver seat. Then I think my vision is playing tricks on me because now instead my 2011 Honda Odyssey is now a 1936 Ford model 68. The steering wheel of my Honda Odyssey is huge and chunky instead of small and sleek. But that doesn’t seem to fit my car neither does the fact that my tires are now white washed. In the Ford model 68 there is no air conditioner or radio. Since I can’t drive this car or any car right now I get up and decide to walk to the local food store.

In the store I pick up today’s paper and see it’s 1936. To be more precise it’s January 31, 1936. I am shocked to find myself in 1936. How did I get here and how do I get back 2011? I also buy some food as I am hungry.

Walking around the store in shock I bump into a woman.

“I’m sorry miss I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s okay I’m fine.”

“What’s your name? I am Michael.”

“Nice to meet you Michael I am Maria.”

“I’m completely lost as I’m not from here. Can you help me find a place to stay?”

“There’s a charming little hotel around here called the El Rey Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

“Sounds nice I’ll think I’ll head there. My car is broken is there a cab around here.”

“Yes there’s one that stops here every fifteen minutes. You’d better hurry the next one will be here in two minutes.”

I rush to buy my food. Then I happen to think my money might happen to look like I used in 2011. I pulled it out and quickly realize it has changed too. I heave a sigh of relief.

I arrive at the El Rey Court around seven p.m. I know I don’t have a reservation but I ask for a room at the front desk. They have one room available and they give it to me.

I was wearing a red shirt, blue tie, and a gray suit. As a Professor of History I recognize that my simple suit from 2011 is now a drape cut suit and tie. The drape cut suit has folds upon folds so it looks like it overlaps at points.

In 2011 I teach at New Mexico Highlands University and yet somehow I find myself trapped in 1936.  With a wife and kids in 2011 I wonder what will happen between me and Maria. I hardly know her yet, I feel some deep connection to her.

Somehow I time traveled back in time and I still have memories of the future.

I can’t seem to figure out where I know Maria from. I get this feeling that I’ve seen her before. She reminds me of my Grandma Maria. One day I find myself thinking she is pretty.

The next day I went to the park to talk to Maria.

“So Maria what do you do for a living?”

“Well right now I’m a school teacher. So what do you do for a living?”

“Well right now I’m unemployed. Do you know if anyone is hiring?”

“Yes the local grocery store is hiring right now.”

“Okay thank you, I think I’ll go apply for the job.”

            So the next day I head to the local grocery store Smith’s Food and Drug to apply for a job.  The job they are hiring for is cashier to which I used to do while going to college to get my degree as a history professor. Even though I’ve got some experience I fill out the application with trepidation as I never worked a manual cash register before and my math skills are horrible.

            That night I meet Maria in the hotel dining room for dinner and we talk about my day.

            “Well I applied for a job at Smith’s Food and Drug today. I hope I get the job.”

            “You’ll get the job because your smart and I bet you’re a fast leaner.”

            “Well I may be a fast learner but my math isn’t so good.”

            “Oh I bet you pick it up really fast.”

            “I don’t know about that Maria but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

            I fall in love with Maria but she seems to have this grandmotherly feel about like she is my grandmother. Oh no she can’t be my grandmother my grandma Maria Katko died on February 22, 1995 I was eighteen. Then I remember I’m in 1936. I decided to ask Maria some questions.

            “So how old are you Maria?”

            “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age?”

            “I’m just wondering because you mind me of someone I knew.”

            “Wow in that case I’m 30. I’m married to a great man.”

“Who are you married to?”

“I am married to a guy named Charles Katko, why?

“Just wondering and you remind me of my grandmother Maria Katko.”

“We just got married two days ago. We’ve been saving up for the big day.”

            Then I think about my wife and kids in 2011. How do I get back to 2011? The more I think about my wife and kids in 2011 the more I realize that I need to get back to that time. 

How I won my battle with depression lesson 3 of a writing course.

When I was twelve I started losing interest in things that used to interest me. Also about that time I started to gain weight. I turned to food to combat my feelings of sadness.

My battle with depression began when I was when I was eighteen, but, I feel that it actually begun sooner. It was a long road to recovery. Some say my depression was hidden within me. They say I was showing signs when I worked for the Somerset Kmart. The longer I worked there the angrier I became.

            Feelings of anger and sadness really enveloped me in July 2001. I’ve been at my new job at Stop and Shop for about seven months, when I made a comment to a co-worker that I needed a psychiatrist, which in turn upset the customer I was taking care of at the time. So, the customer complained to the manager at the time, who happened to be Jay. Jay in turn helped me find a psychiatrist.

            Thus at twenty-four years old I began to see a therapist and psychiatrist at 189 New Street, in my hometown of New Brunswick, NJ.  I was put on Zyprexa and Zoloft at the time. The exact dosage I don’t remember now. But a change had begun when I started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2003.

            Before that I was suicidal and threatened to kill myself on several occasions. I was so desperate that one day I grabbed a knife and threaten to use on myself. However, my mom and brother stopped me. I remember that I kept screaming I don’t want to live and you don’t want me to live either. If it wasn’t for their intervention and the help of the therapist and psychiatrist I would be dead now.

            The real question is did I really want to die? At that particular time in my life I did want to die. I sought death and darkness. So I sat down wrote poems that express how I felt at the time. One such poem is called My Sorrow. In short My Sorrow is about this deep sorrow within me.

            My real help came from above in the form of my friend Ginger who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Because I started asking Ginger about her religion in 2003, I live today. True the medicine and psychiatric help helped me too. But once I learned what Jehovah can do I started to change my ways.

            True I may be single but I know Jehovah has someone out there for me. One other thing helped me coped the comfort of my cat Becky whom I’ve had since 1999 but she was born in 1998. Oh my writing has helped me cope as well. Whenever I feel down I sit down and write.

            I now take Abilify, Zoloft, and Trazodone. However, I only take 5 mg of Abilify, 50 mg of Zoloft, and 150 mg of Trazodone. Trazodone is only one that wasn’t lowered. I used to take 10 mg of Abilify, and 100 mg of Zoloft. I started taking the Trazodone because I was having trouble sleeping.

            Even though I’m still on medicine I feel like I’ve won the battle on my depression. I feel like I’ve won my battle with depression because I am a lot happier now. True I still have my down days but they are few and far between now.

            In my early days of my depression I had so many ups and downs that I felt like I was on a roller coaster, and I’ve never been on a roller coaster to my knowledge.

           

            The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines depression as: 1. severe unhappiness and dejection. 2. A medical condition in which a person experiences severe feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy. 3. A long severe recession in economy or market. 4. The action of lowering or depressing something. 5. A sunken place or hollow.  6. An area of low atmospheric pressure which may bring rain.

            Of course I fall in the area of one and two. And because of that I needed medical help right away. My definition of depression is one of many ups and downs. Fortunately right now I’m on high instead of a low. 

            From what I remember from an old Zoloft I believe is that depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Depression is a serious illness that can be treated with medicine. You can find all kinds of information on different websites. One such site is National Institute of Mental Health.