Although the official first day of fall isn’t until Sept. 23, Labor Day usually marks the end of summer fun. Pools close for the season, school is back in session and vacations are over.

I must say, this summer has been one of the best I’ve ever had.

It’s amazing how much a person’s life can change in the span of six months.

My outlook on life, I admit, was pretty bleak six months ago. I was swimming in doubt about a myriad of things. I wondered whether moving away from my family and friends in North Carolina four years ago was the right thing to do. A seven-year relationship with the man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with had ended unexpectedly, causing me to have to uproot and move. Work was sometimes more than I thought I could handle, especially while I was mourning a loss of someone I loved, including my dog.

There were times when I just sat at home in silence because doing anything else just seemed impossible. When you see yourself headed down one road in life, that familiar path you’ve driven a thousand times, only to be jolted in a completely different direction with no familiar signs, it’s terrifying.

I had no idea where I was going or how to get there.

Finding myself on that foreign path was lonely. At first.

Then I started to realize, that path wasn’t so scary and lonely, because I wasn’t really alone.

No matter how sad I got or how hard I tried to seclude myself, there was always someone there to pull me out of the darkness. And most of the time, I don’t even think they knew they were doing just that.

My funk eventually ended, and I can say with 100 percent certainty it is partly because of some pretty great people who I only met this year.

Shortly before the Great Breakup of 2014, as I have named it, I started playing Team Trivia once a week with some folks in Huntington. It was an eclectic group of people, all ages and backgrounds and from all over the Tri-State.

I had a lot of fun and before I knew it, I had made some of the best friends I’d had since grade school. I’m not sure I even realized it until I secluded myself after the breakup.

In all my sadness, I honestly didn’t think anyone would notice I wasn’t showing up for trivia. I didn’t think anyone would care that I didn’t go out to the movies with the group.

But they did. An encouraging text here and there did a lot to snap me out of what could have become a dreadful depression.

And when I was ready to return to trivia, no one pried nosily about my circumstances. They were just genuinely glad I had returned.

One day at a time, I started taking back my happiness and got involved with a lot of other activities: I joined the OUS Community Band, I took up yoga, I joined the Ironton Lions Club.

And, the Summer of Fun was begun.

Instead of just talking about all the fun activities we wanted to do, my newfound friends and I decided to actually do them. We dubbed our group the Summer of Fun, and I can honestly say, we lived up to the name.

We had a potluck dinner, numerous themed movie nights, attended concerts, watched outdoor films at Heritage Station, played board games, went to comic book conventions, played a ton of trivia and capped it all off with an end-of-summer beach party complete with a miniature beach.

We didn’t get to do everything we wanted, but there is always time during Awesome Autumn or Fantastic Fall. We haven’t decided on a name yet.

But all this to say, thanks to some of the best people I know. I probably didn’t actually say the words, but you helped me through a tough and uncertain time. That’s something can never be repaid, but I’ll try.

Thanks for the best summer ever.

 

Michelle Goodman is the news editor at The Tribune. To reach her, call 740-532-1441 ext. 12 or by email at michelle.goodman@irontontribune.com.