At the age of twenty, I left France for California.

I made up my mind very fast. I remember the windowless room in which I was working when the idea took hold. One minute I had not yet thought of leaving France as a practical possibility, and the next minute nothing could have prevented it.

I never looked back.

Twenty five years later, I faced another change. After spending twenty one years operating a demanding business, I sold it.

Between May and September 2005, I was unemployed.

Just as I didn't go through Ellis Island, I didn't stand in the job lines. Still, the process of repackaging myself was confusing and a bit frightening.

I suppose these changes are determining hinges within my life. As I try to manage and organize my plans, rationalize my expectations, and mute my fears, I will revisit those uprootings.
 

	IMMIGRANT
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	UNEMPLOYED