900 Years of Being Weird

On a random evening about two years ago, I received a phone call from an acquaintance named Corrine. She sounded as if she had been crying all night as she asked me to meet up. It struck me as strange that she would want to meet with me during what seemed to be a dark time in her life, but I agreed, inviting her over to my place. We didn’t talk much at first, instead entertaining ourselves with Netflix. However, not too long into the night, she received a phone call from her father.

She ended the call as she began to cry, telling me about what her life had been like for the last several years. I won’t share the details of her woes, but I can say that they had left her in a state of total disconnection. She felt nothing for her surroundings but negativity and didn’t know what to do about it. Moments later, her mother called.

I had been sitting on the couch cleaning my lenses for the next while, giving Corrine space to have her phone call, until she hung up and began to cry again. This time, they weren’t tears of frustration and sadness, but of hope and happiness. Without giving it a second thought, I mounted the lens I was cleaning onto my camera and began taking pictures of her. “I’m leaving. In two days I’ll be moving to California…” she said, seemingly to herself. She was laughing now. It was as if she had yet to convince herself of it, but was delighted by the notion of starting anew (the photo above is of that very moment).

She had decided to uproot her entire life and move across the country to start over. In the years since, Corrine has been living in California, where she has built a new life for herself. She has met new friends, found a career working with animals and dedicated herself to being a healthier person (convincing me to pay more attention to what I eat). As for whether she is happy or not, I cannot say, as we never kept in touch. I like to think she is, though. It was beautiful to watch someone’s life change right before my eyes, so I’d like to think that there is a happy ending to such a courageous venture.