15 years ago, on June 9th, 2000, I stepped off a Greyhound bus and onto what I considered fertile ground.  This was where my dreams were supposed to take root and flourish.  I left Upstate NY armed with two suitcases and about $2.  Okay it was more than that, but it soon felt like $2 after I learned just how far each dollar would stretch in such an expensive city.

But I was in New York City!  The Big Apple.  The city that never sleeps.  I had arrived.  I was ready to take it on headfirst. Well, I thought I was ready.  But I was a small town goldfish diving into the ocean.  I couldn’t foresee all that would happen in the very first year, let alone more than a decade later…