Life Comes At You Fast

It's amazing how fast your life can change in a matter of seconds. You can get a job promotion, win the lottery or become engaged and instantly, your life is different. You can also be killed by a drunk driver.

Last night, my sister was lucky enough to merely escape what could have been a life-threatening, if not fatal, accident. Her and her boyfriend were leaving a Massachusetts bar around 1 a.m. after hanging out with a bunch of friends. Her sober driving boyfriend pulled out onto the neighborhood road and out of nowhere, they were hit by a car going about 70 mph. The woman driving the other car got out and started to run in the other direction because she knew she was drunk. Luckily, the police were able to catch up to her to make the arrest. Though visibly shaken up, my sister and boyfriend were able to walk away from the crash with only minor bumps and bruises. The woman hit them on the front passenger's side so hard that the license plate was knocked off and landed 30 feet away. If the accident had occurred one second later, who knows what kinds of injuries my sister would have been faced with. Fortunately that is something my family will not have to deal with.

Drunk driving is and will always be something I am cautious of. Not only with myself, but with other drivers on the road. When I go out for a few drinks I know when to stop so that I am still able to get myself and my passengers home safely. However, sometimes when I do the right thing, there are others on the road who make the drive home more dangerous. It's the woman who decides to have one more glass of wine at dinner and crosses the yellow line, or the man who ordered one more shot of Jack and passes out at the wheel only to slam into the side of your car at an intersection.

My sister's accident, while to some may seem minor, still reminds me that I am thankful for the outcome. Today, I kept thinking of what could have been and how in a matter of seconds, my world could have been turned upside down. I had just talked to her about 3 hours prior and everything was great. I couldn't help but go through of all the things I don't say to her enough--how much I miss her being in the room next to mine, how much I love and appreciate our relationship, how she is my inspiration and role model for everything I do. Thankfully I will have many more opportunities to tell her these things, but it is important to remember that being blessed for "close calls" is much better than being sorry for the "what ifs".

Tic-Tock Tic-Tock

"The future has a way of arriving unannounced"--George F. Will

It's already the second week in March of 2010 and I have yet to find a full-time job. It has been 10 months since I graduated. 10 months, close to 150 jobs applied to, one face-to-face interview (which lead to one MAJOR disappointment) and 2 weeks of freelancing. Where does that leave me? Still unemployed. Still living at home in Rhode Island. Still spending hours on end applying to every job I could possibly be qualified for in the communications field, until my eyes start crossing from staring at the computer screen for such a long time.

If I was asked a year ago where I thought my life would be 10 months post graduation, I would have said, "living in my studio apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, writing for one of the top-named magazines during the day, while staying up to all hours of the night creating the lives of fictional characters in my romantic literary masterpiece-to-be." Never did I imagine I would still be out of a job.

Rejection is of course, the worst part of the job search. Because I have not received much positive feedback, or any feedback for that matter, it is hard not to take it personally. I am constantly updating both my resume and cover letter, but what else can I do to make employers see that I am the one they should hire? I know that once I get into an interview situation, I can win them over with my personality and skills. The hardest part is getting the opportunity to do so.

People keep saying, "Oh don't worry, you will land something soon." Yes, I know I will get a job, but the question at stake here is WHEN? I'm not worried about never getting a job, I'm worried about not having a job right now. In ten years or so, I will be taking over Fraser Communications Group, the company my father recently started, so the long-term future is covered. It's just these next few years that I need to fill with a position. I am ready for that next chapter in life so I can look forward to what's to come. However, the future is approaching at a rapid speed and I am stuck in the slow-motion of the present.

A Year-Round Haunted House

Simply stated: my house is haunted.

I was reminded of this fact last night when I awoke at 2:25 a.m. to the sound scuffled feet walking towards me. I jumped up out of my slumber because I thought it was one of my parents waking me up to tell me something. Then I rolled over to see the clock and realized that both my mom and dad would be sound asleep at that time of the morning. The thought of it being a ghost crossed my mind and somehow I felt comforted enough to fall back to sleep.

In the past twenty-three years since my parents built the house, we have experienced a variety of paranormal activity. Everything from hearing voices and footsteps, to seeing faces, and even having flowers arrangements taken out of their vases. Usually the activity comes in spurts of a weekend or a few days in a row. About five years ago on a Friday night, my dad woke up in the middle of the night and heard my keyboard play five distinct notes in a row. He got out of bed and walked towards the hallway and heard the same five notes play again. Then it stopped. The even weirder part? The keyboard was underneath my bed, not plugged into the outlet and did not have batteries in it. The next day after my father explained this experience to us, my brother, my sister, my friend, and I were all hanging out watching television. All of a sudden my answering machine went off without the phone ringing first. Trying to be funny, my brother said, "Okay if there is really a ghost in this house do that again." Sure enough within fifteen seconds, the machine went off again. We all looked around to each other in shock and bolted up the stairs thinking we would be safe if we were out of the room.

You may be skeptical, but I have had enough personal experiences to believe that these are signs from people beyond. Does it scare me? A little bit, however none of the activities have been threatening. Instead, I believe that my family's "ghost" is or are deceased loved ones who are checking in on us and maybe even playing little tricks to let us know they are still with us.