I was having the week (month, year...) from hell at work. One day I just happened to look online at job listings at a company I had always wanted to work for. It just so happened that they were doing a mass interviewing at a job fair of sorts that Friday. It was like fate had made me look on that day, in that week, to see if they were hiring. I called in sick that Friday morning, and I was one of 5 hired that afternoon. It was like a dream come true.

My husband and I had never wanted children, but that particular autumn, with the change of the seasons came a change within us. I guess we were looking for a sign to have a baby. We had been talking about it for weeks. "Should we?" At a friends Halloween party, someone brought their newborn. She was so tiny and cute. I snuggled her all evening until she threw up on me. I was pregnant by November 30th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Graduating from law school

So boring.

GOD DAMNIT YOU ARE RUDE!!!

The first night I worked on Broadway. Everything changed after that. I have my current job because of that. I met my husband because of that. I have my child because of that

I'll never forget standing on the stage after the show and looking out at the empty seats and knowing a new world was open to me.

Anonymous wrote:I remember the first time I laughed, like really really laughed and felt joy, after the sudden death of our middle child. I didn't think I would ever feel joy again and I remember very specifically sitting on my porch and laughing at something my girlfriend was gossiping about on the phone. It was such a catty snarky convo and it just cracked me up. I realized at that moment I might be ok. Not the same, but maybe, just maybe I would be ok. Maybe I wouldn't;t have to fake every single smile for the rest of my life just for my kids sake. Maybe I would have moments of joy, laughter, friendship, and love again. Just maybe. That happened 7 years ago and I even remember the way the wind smelled on my porch that afternoon. Its such a distinct memory and it really did define my life…my recovery life.

Thank you for sharing this moment. I teared up just reading it. I wish you many more years of smiles and laughs.

Here is a short list of some of the defining moments in my life:

Getting first chair flute as a freshman in high school. I got bullied by all the then-juniors and seniors for 2 years. And then my junior year, my entire section tried to defeat me using the sight reading challenge system we had. They thought if they challenged me every week, I would have to fuck up eventually. I did not. I got a half scholarship to a music school. But didn't know how to pay for the other half at the time (now I am kicking myself).

When my college flute instructor got cataract surgery the day before accompanying me during my first review and the dept chair wanting to fail me. I had to play the music cold with someone who I never worked with. I went on to change majors and colleges.

When my first post-college boyfriend bought me a website domain and hosting. It became part of my legacy. LOL.

When my first post-college boyfriend moved and left me. I could have left DC with him, but I decided not to. It really affected me back then.

The day the man who eventually became H almost died. It changed so much. I now wish he died that day. He was abusive.

When instead of staying at home with DD, I decided to take a leap and change career fields.

The first time I told him I was leaving him. He called police on him that time and every time to keep me in line.

My life is evolving. I am sure to pile on more defining moments.

My first night in the college dorms, finally away from my mentally ill parents. It was the first night in years that I slept completely through the night without waking up 10 times in fear. When I work up rested and refreshed, I felt like I was an entirely new person. I knew then that I had the power to make choices that could bring so much stability and comfort into my life, and I never looked back.

Anonymous wrote:The day I met my adopted daughter.

Me too.

After suffering through two years of clinical depression, counseling, medication, etc etc, I was holding the phone in my hand to call my dad and ask him to come get me and I thought to myself, "No! You've had enough. You can live through this." And I've never been depressed again. I've felt sadness, sure, but never that pure despair. It did take me a long time to trust that sadness would not become depression and I've thought of that moment many times since.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I met my now DH my freshman year of college. My life trajectory did a complete 180 and I think I'm a different person than I would have been without him. More boring, but much more stable and happier. I truly think meeting him so young was a grounding presence and influence to overcome the sh*t I grew up with.

Cheesy and not exactly a defining moment, but I like being a mother a lot more than I thought I would. I'm much happier to mommy track myself (graduated from a top 5 law school and now make barely $100k in the government). Surprisingly, I don't feel torn about not having the career I thought I would.

wow, if I could get on your "mommy track" I'd feel rich and successful!

+1 I have a demanding job in state gov't that I am proud of, but I only make 58k.

Anonymous wrote:When my mom finally managed to enroll me into an English immersion school in my home country. She tried for several years, trying to find connections and such..she finally just went to the principal with me and said she wouldn't leave until they test me. I tested well thanks to her training and my language abilities and they enrolled me.
I later won a scholarship to go to the US as an exchange student, and it had a great impact on my life (though I came back to my home country and went to college there, but knowing English well there and then, and having seen another country has opened new doors for me).
I wish I could do something for my son one day similar to what my mom did for me.

Another defining moment was going on a date with my now husband. I remember how reluctant I was, and how I spoke to a friend on the phone, outlining my doubts, and how she said I should just go and see what happens. I wish I didn't go on that date

So you are unhappily married? I'm sorry.

When my mom finally managed to enroll me into an English immersion school in my home country. She tried for several years, trying to find connections and such..she finally just went to the principal with me and said she wouldn't leave until they test me. I tested well thanks to her training and my language abilities and they enrolled me.
I later won a scholarship to go to the US as an exchange student, and it had a great impact on my life (though I came back to my home country and went to college there, but knowing English well there and then, and having seen another country has opened new doors for me).
I wish I could do something for my son one day similar to what my mom did for me.

Another defining moment was going on a date with my now husband. I remember how reluctant I was, and how I spoke to a friend on the phone, outlining my doubts, and how she said I should just go and see what happens. I wish I didn't go on that date

Anonymous wrote:The day I had a nervous breakdown, called my Mom at 5PM on a Wednesday night in January to come get me (I'm from Pittsburgh, and was going to school in NJ...so not exactly close) and then dropped out of my Ivy League school the next day. I spent half a semester at home + a summer of working, then transferred to a smaller liberal arts college closer to home where I THRIVED. It's where I should have been all along - I get sad thinking about the year and half semester I spent miserable at the first school, thinking that I'd be letting myself and my family down if I didn't stay. The trajectory of my life would have been very, very different had I stayed.

A lot of us had trouble at Princeton, if you weren't a moneyed east coaster and big into the scene on prospect Street it can be very isolating. I wish I had your courage to drop out and find a place I fit better.

Anonymous wrote:I was a poor black boy growing up in rural NC to a single-mother of 5.
Lived in an old rusty trailer - no running water and with siphoned electricity from a neighbor.
Mom was a serious alcoholic.
I was sexually molested by a teacher and then by a family member.
I was tracked in special ed classes since 1st grade and failed the 4th grade.
The school's free lunches/breakfasts were God-sent.

Defining moment for me?
The P.E. teacher (who happened to be a white male) pulled me aside after the annual field day events and said, "Don't you ever stop running. Your running's going to take you places."
I didn't have much else going for me, so I believed what he told me. I kept on running - sometimes hungry; sometimes in torn-up sneakers.
By the end of high school, I was one of the top runners in the state of NC and earned a full X-country and track scholarship.
I am living a very comfortable life today - beautiful wife, good/smart kids.
I honestly don't know where I'd be if he hadn't pulled me aside that day.

This is wonderful.

Buying a one-way ticket to the US.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a poor black boy growing up in rural NC to a single-mother of 5.
Lived in an old rusty trailer - no running water and with siphoned electricity from a neighbor.
Mom was a serious alcoholic.
I was sexually molested by a teacher and then by a family member.
I was tracked in special ed classes since 1st grade and failed the 4th grade.
The school's free lunches/breakfasts were God-sent.

Defining moment for me?
The P.E. teacher (who happened to be a white male) pulled me aside after the annual field day events and said, "Don't you ever stop running. Your running's going to take you places."
I didn't have much else going for me, so I believed what he told me. I kept on running - sometimes hungry; sometimes in torn-up sneakers.
By the end of high school, I was one of the top runners in the state of NC and earned a full X-country and track scholarship.
I am living a very comfortable life today - beautiful wife, good/smart kids.
I honestly don't know where I'd be if he hadn't pulled me aside that day.

This made me tear up. Love this.

+1