The past few weeks have been rough on me. Other than being sick, which turned out to be pneumonia after all, I’ve gone through something that I’ve never really dealt with before.

So, there’s pneumonia and the fact that I’ve essentially been sick with it for going on three weeks now, but also earlier this week I was physically assaulted in Copley. A man I assume to be homeless – whom the police have been looking for but who hasn’t been seen around Copley since the attack – punched me in the head and then grabbed my hair and tossed me around by the back of my head. I doubled over to protect my face and screamed for help and a total stranger bowled into us stopping the attack and saving the day. A security guard from the building it happened in front of called the police pretty immediately once the attacker had run. Considering it all, I’m very lucky, just a bump on the head where he punched me and pain where he pulled my hair (even a couple of days later) but I know it could have been worse and I’m grateful that people responded how they did. Overall, I’m just feeling very shaken and scared and pessimistic about the world right now. It was a trying day and after not being able to sleep all week thanks to jumpiness and nightmares and coughing, it’s been difficult to feel good about just about anything. Shitty things happen sometimes but I’m okay and still here and hoping to start feeling better physically and emotionally very soon.

Writing this is one way that I’m hoping to deal with the trauma. My incredibly supportive co-workers have also connected me with a trauma therapist and I’ll be seeing them for the first time this coming Monday morning. Essentially, I’m feeling quiet and sad and in a way more determined than ever to keep up my work for the right causes with awesome people. This is also my way of saying, well, thanks all, for the support and the love through all of this.