:::Part 1 -- A Dark Night in Virginia:::

Let me tell you a story...

3 1/2 years ago I left California on a jet plane. Six-ish hours later I landed at Reagan, and that's how all of my now began. I went to baggage claim, dragged my gigantic suitcases over to the taxi line, and gave the driver directions to a house that I had never been to before.

It was pitch black dark, like 11 pm at night, as we drove into my new neighborhood in Pentagon City. Not a soul around, and so dark. The driver stopped in front of a house that didn't look anything like the fuzzy picture I'd been sent. I didn't want to leave the cab. I was scared like a baby. The cabby was fidgeting, so I asked him again if he was certain that we were at the right address, and very reluctantly got out of the car. He didn't help me with my bags.

I lugged my suitcases up the creaky wooden steps and knocked on the door even though I knew everyone was home for Christmas. I wanted someone to welcome me to my new home, but I had to open the door myself.

Once I dug out my key, I opened the door to more darkness and more emptiness. Up more creaky steps to my attic room with heavy luggage thumping and bumping behind me. Out came the air mattress. I looked around my room and accessed the situation -- an attic without insulation with a tiny room eked out with wood paneling that bowed when I press my hand against it. The wind was howling, and it cut through my new room, and through me, like a knife.

To be continued...