Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Isn't This How They Make Diamonds?

Pressure. Pressure. And more pressure. Daily pressure. Hourly pressure. I forgot what it was like to be plugged in to the world. I have been in a cabin in the woods of the Cuyamaca Mountains for almost four years with no TV, computer and little technology. I read by oil lamp and heated my one-room cabin with a pot belly stove.

I teach. Troubled kids of all variations have been my students. The county refers to them as "at risk" youth. My path to a teaching credential led me through about a dozen facilities dedicated to kids with drug and criminal histories at the tender ages of 14-18. My only outing has been to venture 'down the hill' to teach these kids which I did for two years.

Now I have been jumped back into society with a call from my sick mother telling me she needed me here now. Here is small town Texas, Nacogdoches to be exact-two hours east of Houston's Hobby Airport. From my cabin to my mother's front door took 19 hours of travel. I left Julian at 6:30am and arrived at her door around 1:30am.

Taking care of an aging parent is now the focus of my journey and it is stressful. My mother was up and around two years ago when I saw her last. Now, she barely gets around due to multiple fractures, including a hip and shoulder, high blood pressure and something that is not right about her legs which may require surgery soon. Enough medical info. I just know that I will be getting a bigger dose each day that I am here.

After a few days, I decided to stay here and take care of my mother which could take months or years. Returning to San Diego and continuing to struggle with employment issues, battling Bank of America for my home which is slated for auction and living a life described by my Indian friends by saying, “she walks alone,” has taken the wind out my sails.

I have no mortgage payment or utilities to cover which relieves a lot of stress. Making yet another move (I've moved five times since my home burned in '07) and starting over in a new place with no friends has become far too common but exploring a new place is always stimulating even at the half century mark which I passed in April.

As a new chapter begins in deep east Texas, I put my world in God's hands each morning and only ask for clear directions-which are incoming.

Thanks for listening, I am Sherry D

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/aug/27/52125/

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach

Pressure. Pressure. And more pressure. Daily pressure. Hourly pressure. I forgot what it was like to be plugged in to the world. I have been in a cabin in the woods of the Cuyamaca Mountains for almost four years with no TV, computer and little technology. I read by oil lamp and heated my one-room cabin with a pot belly stove.

I teach. Troubled kids of all variations have been my students. The county refers to them as "at risk" youth. My path to a teaching credential led me through about a dozen facilities dedicated to kids with drug and criminal histories at the tender ages of 14-18. My only outing has been to venture 'down the hill' to teach these kids which I did for two years.

Now I have been jumped back into society with a call from my sick mother telling me she needed me here now. Here is small town Texas, Nacogdoches to be exact-two hours east of Houston's Hobby Airport. From my cabin to my mother's front door took 19 hours of travel. I left Julian at 6:30am and arrived at her door around 1:30am.

Taking care of an aging parent is now the focus of my journey and it is stressful. My mother was up and around two years ago when I saw her last. Now, she barely gets around due to multiple fractures, including a hip and shoulder, high blood pressure and something that is not right about her legs which may require surgery soon. Enough medical info. I just know that I will be getting a bigger dose each day that I am here.

After a few days, I decided to stay here and take care of my mother which could take months or years. Returning to San Diego and continuing to struggle with employment issues, battling Bank of America for my home which is slated for auction and living a life described by my Indian friends by saying, “she walks alone,” has taken the wind out my sails.

I have no mortgage payment or utilities to cover which relieves a lot of stress. Making yet another move (I've moved five times since my home burned in '07) and starting over in a new place with no friends has become far too common but exploring a new place is always stimulating even at the half century mark which I passed in April.

As a new chapter begins in deep east Texas, I put my world in God's hands each morning and only ask for clear directions-which are incoming.

Thanks for listening, I am Sherry D

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/aug/27/52125/

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A single mom in Normal Heights tells her story

We don't all have chicken-soup grandmas
Next Article

Dawn Murray fights charges of lesbianism at Oceanside High

"The facts are on our side"
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader