What was the worst year of your life? How old were you?--Al

-- Al Schroeder (al.schroeder@nashville.com), October 28, 2000

Answers

February 1986 through February 1987 has been the worst year in my life to date. I went from being an alcoholic to being sober, being out of the home I no longer deserved, then mid-year having an acute gall bladder problem resulting in its removal and consequent recuperative time the one good point was late in 1986 when we were in the process of reconciliation and my moving home again. In the fall respiratory problems plagued me to the max and finally became more or less chronic bronchitis. I tried to keep working but the bronchitis was getting worse and I kept getting sicker and weaker. Somewhere in there I went into clinical depression and lost touch with reality. I have no complete memory, other than I began seeing things and was dreadfully frightened. The rest I have been told, I had cut my wrist and was almost totally bled out when Heather chanced to come by when she was on an errand to see how I was doing and discovered me. Recovery in hospital and then being transferred to Mount Airy Psychiatric facility and going to work there to rebuild a man. That was the worst year I ever spent ------- it got much better after that.

-- Denver doug (ionoi@webtv.net), October 28, 2000.

P.S. My age was 65 -- too old to be so stupid.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL

-- Denver doug (ionoi@webtv.net), October 28, 2000.

Happy Birthday!

A n y w a y s... My worst year was the year I was in eighth grade.. Not that I'm much older than that now but I suffered that year, as much as I possibly could given my age and my situation.. It was horrible.

-- Jen (Winter@nyc.com), October 29, 2000.

In the face of Al's and Denver Doug's worst years, I have to admit that I have gotten off pretty easily. I hope I don't make you two feel worse, but the worst times I've had have to do with job dissatisfaction, or the last two years of college when I was trying to guess what career path would suit me. Plenty miserable times, let me tell you, but nothing to compare with the death of a child, or even the near-unraveling of one's marriage and life. It put things in perspective for me.

-- Tom Dean (tsd@ogk.com), October 29, 2000.

There was no one "worst year of my life." In 1986 I lost a job I loved and my best friend died. I thought the bottom had dropped out of my world. It had. I was 43 years old and I couldn't imagine anything worse happening.

Until 1996, when I was 53 years old and my youngest son died. People tell you there is nothing worse then the pain of losing a child. They're wrong. What's worse is the pain of losing TWO children. In 1999 our second son died. I sometimes feel like I've entered a period of perpetual mourning and it scares me to look at the remaining 3 children and wonder which will be next.

-- Bev Sykes (basykes@dcn.davis.ca.us), October 29, 2000.

This is easy. The worst year of my life was my 23rd. One day after my 23rd birthday (I am 27 now), my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Less than 6 months later, she was dead. Suffice it to say, getting to 24 seemed to take an awfully long time. My sister and I used to actually joke about it, cause she also noticed the inordinant amount of time it was taking to get to 24. Every once in a while I would call her and say, "I am still 23. How can that be?" It was a long, slow and painful year. While the healing wasn't nearly done by the time my birthday finally rolled around, symbolically things just seemed to get a little better. Then I blinked and I was 25.

ally

-- ally (ally3223@aol.com), October 30, 2000.

1990 - I was 15 and suffering from nervous breakdown.

-- Tarek (tarekchemaly@postmark.net), October 31, 2000.

This year has been the worst year of my life!!! Where to begin... First about me, I'm only 21, in my 4th year at the University of Calgary, and living away from home. Things started going wrong in early August when my father's stopped fishing boat was slammed, full force, by a speedboat, killing him instantly. Less than a month later my girlfriend of one year went on a 4 month volunteering trip to Costa Rica. She has since called me to tell me that she has fallen in love with somebody else. Finally, in early October my best friend (since I moved to Calgary 4 years ago) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is on an experimental drug, but likely will not live to see 2005 (Only 25 years old!).

I really would like any advice on how you all got through those tough times. I'm hurting here. Thanx. ~RILEY~ sweetrelief2004@hotmail.com

-- Riley Feller (sweetrelief2004@hotmail.com), December 05, 2003.

It has to be 1988, followed by 1989, 1990 and 1997. The best ones have been 1999, 2001 and 2000.

-- Kevin Phillips (Kevecc@hotmail.com), April 06, 2004.