January 26, 2016.
Almost the very beginning of the year, I was sexually assaulted (for the first, but not only, time (by the same man)). I know so many questions arise from that… You can read more about it here.
It felt like it was a shadow over my entire year. To me, it kind of defined my year… almost.
2016 was the year I moved to Times Square, and the year I became an editor on a show produced by a hero of mine.
2016 was also the year I sang the National Anthem in front of a crowd of 30,000+ people. And the year I swam with a whale (my favorite animal!).
2016 was the year I finally got to see Hillary Clinton get the nomination of the democratic party… And while that ended so, so sadly, I got to experience – in real time – all the incredible joy that came with her journey…
But if you asked me about 2016 right now, no matter how sunny I want to be, and how much I want to tell you what an incredible joy it was to live in Manhattan (my dream!), and work for Jon Stewart (another dream!)… I would probably describe 2016 to you as the year I was sexually assaulted…
Because it never went away. Ever. The whole year.
The man was intertwined in my life… Yes, sometimes that was of my own choosing, and other times not…
(The times that I chose to see him were supposed to make those other times, in which it wasn’t my choice, easier… They didn’t.)
And even when I made sacrifices in my own life to avoid him, he still was there, in that the nightmares don’t just magically stop. And I don’t know when they will.
It felt like a humongous shadow overpowering a gorgeous year… Or, at least, pretty gorgeous… Hillary Clinton didn’t become president, after all.
Because I felt it defined my year, I thought that perhaps I should mention it in the year in review. But because I don’t want it to define my year, I didn’t. And it’s amazing to look at how much is there without it. (But I added this post because it’s impossible (or at least impossible-seeming-to-me) to not talk about it at all as a part of 2016. It was just. there.
(If you missed my year in review posts, you can check out part 1 and part 2.)