Twenty-two years ago on this date, I got pink-slipped at 11 AM sharp from Sikorsky, joining a hundred other engineers who suddenly had way too much free time after the Comanche program crashed harder than a budget proposal. Looking back now, that gut-punch moment was just the universe's aggressive way of saying, "Hey buddy, Montana's calling."
The thread from there gets interesting. Four years later I'm spotting wildflowers on active recovery hikes, then preparing for Lolo Pass rides with cheap tires and big dreams. By 2009, I'm winning the Speedwagon Classic and savoring BBQ, though I'm still suffering through intervals and learning that getting through the hard parts is kind of the whole point.
Later years bring philosophical musings about validation, discovering hobbit houses, and getting dragged on unwanted ski adventures that somehow turn magical. Even Buttons's heroic last stand taught lessons about resilience. Through blizzards and fat bike rides, the pattern holds.
This date keeps showing me that the hard moments, the uncomfortable intervals, the unexpected crashes... they're all just setup for the next good thing. Even COVID couldn't stop the forward motion. And yes, I'm still figuring out how to wrangle Google Photos, but hey, at least I've got all these years documented to prove the journey's worth it.