Feeling better

I have taken things too personally and gotten down on myself for some negative experiences I have had these past several years in Alameda.  I feel now it all comes down to this:  I bought a home in an area where blacks couldn't buy homes just a few generations ago.  While blacks, minorities and women are changing the face of Alameda, some people are still clinging to these outdated beliefs.  That explains why someone living in a neighboring apartment once assumed I was a domestic just leaving work for the evening.  Really, I was a new homeowner taking myself to dinner.  He didn't see that coming and some other folks didn't see it either.  I heard similar things so much over the years that I let it slap me in the face and sting.  Compound old stereotypes with the economic collapse and I made more enemies than friends.  My initial, critical reception (and my own reaction) in Alameda was not conducive to finding a stable relationship with a mature partner with a professional career.  That recession through a wrench at me and my plans to re-invent myself in a new house in a new town.  Some people treated me like I belonged to the "one percent," and not in a good way.  I felt beyond alone and discouraged.  Ultimately, I made the right move.  I must remember that.