I am almost 50 years old. I was born and raised in Turkiye, who moved to the United States in my 20s. During my formative years from 12 to 18, I resided in a boarding school devoid of televisions or computers. Consequently, I immersed myself in reading, devouring hundreds of novels and stories. This extensive reading not only augmented my intelligence but also nourished my imagination and deepened my understanding of the world.
At the age of 14, I embarked on a writing journey, contributing to the school newspaper by inscribing my thoughts on the wall. These writings delved into weighty subjects such as social and environmental issues, justice, equality, and religion. As I transitioned into young adulthood, my perspective on life evolved, embracing a more romantic, adventurous, and self-focused outlook. During my college years, I penned fictional stories and poems, many of which have unfortunately been lost, with only a few surviving remnants.
Upon my relocation to the United States, I deliberately ceased writing and reading in Turkish, concentrating my efforts on mastering the English language. Consequently, my literary pursuits shifted to English books, and I gradually began expressing my thoughts in English as well, albeit with some difficulty. Presently, I maintain a concise diary, yet at times, I feel that I am more proficient at articulating my thoughts in Turkish due to its inherent ease.
During my childhood, I harbored a dream of traversing the globe and authoring an adventure book akin to “Evliya Celebi,” a seventeenth-century traveler who chronicled his exploits in a lengthy tome titled “Seyahatname.”
In my leisure time, I relish city strolls, socializing with family and friends, indulging in culinary delights, attending movies, engaging in tai-chi, savoring hot tea, and pursuing my work. I take great pleasure in listening to individuals who possess captivating stories. Additionally, I have a penchant for photographing food and reviewing restaurants online. I collect Starbucks gift cards and derive immense satisfaction from body and foot massages, particularly reflexology. On weekends, my family and I seek respite outside the city, breathing in fresh air, and we endeavor to embark on overseas travels each summer. Having visited over 25 different countries, I aspire to further expand my travel experiences. For the past decade, I have been employed at Dinolingo, a language learning company, witnessing its perseverance and modest success even during challenging times. I derive fulfillment from my work and harbor contentment with my overall appearance, although my fondness for food makes it easy for me to gain weight. Consequently, I aspire to shed an additional 10 pounds.
I have been married to an Irish-born woman for 18 years, and together we have two children. Our journey as a couple has seen us reside in Manhattan for five years, subsequently relocating to Florida for seven years, before returning to Manhattan for another five years. Finally, we settled in the Bronx last year, where life has become more manageable with additional space for our family.
My wife and I share a strong bond despite our disparate backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, and cultures. We delight in exploring new culinary establishments, relishing intimate gatherings with loved ones, and nurturing our shared passion for travel. We also recognize the importance of personal space and endeavor to afford each other the opportunity for individual vacations and trips while ensuring the care of our children.
In late 2018, through a coincidental medical examination, doctors discovered a large tumor resembling a grapefruit in my stomach. Consequently, I underwent a major surgery in 2019. Unfortunately, three years later, a smaller tumor reemerged, leading to a second surgical intervention. Subsequently, additional tumors have appeared in my mesentery wall (small bowels) known as “low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma”, an extremely rare soft tissue sarcoma with only a few reported cases—approximately 1 in 10,000,000 or fewer.
The initial surgery profoundly altered my perspective on life. I now strive to savor every moment and refrain from easily succumbing to frustration or lingering in a state of upset. Moreover, I have grown less concerned about others’ opinions of me, a departure from my past preoccupation with external judgments. In recent years, I have begun contemplating the afterlife, finding solace in occasional prayers. While I identify as a Muslim, I perceive life as a game, where accumulating points before transitioning to the next phase is paramount.
Given the gravity of my illness, I remain uncertain about the time I have left in this game. It could be a matter of months or, if I am fortunate, a few years. Naturally, I aspire to remain in good health and witness the growth of my children. Nevertheless, I recognize that everything occurs for a purpose, and I harbor no resentment, fear, or anger. Departure from this game is inevitable for everyone. Consequently, I am taking proactive steps to organize my affairs, just in case. As a result, I no longer set long-term goals but rather focus on immediate aspirations, which include writing short stories, practicing intermittent fasting, engaging in daily tai-chi and exercise, singing more frequently, organizing and archiving photographs and videos, contributing to the well-being of others—humans, animals, and the environment—through acts of kindness and charity, hosting gatherings and enjoying quality time with loved ones, continuing to work and provide for my family, and embarking on further travels across the globe.
I am the eldest among six brothers, with no sisters. Four of my brothers, along with my parents, reside in Turkey, while one brother resides in the United States and another in Japan. Despite the physical distances, we maintain a strong bond, engaging in weekly video calls and endeavoring to visit our parents every summer.
5/27/23 (this article is re-written by ai)
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I am 48 years old, I was born in Turkiye and moved to the US two decades ago.
Between the ages of 12 and 18 I lived in a boarding school which didn’t have a TV or a computer, so I read most of the time, hundreds of books, mostly novels and stories. I believe reading that many books made me a bit smarter, boosted my imagination and helped me to understand the world better. When I was 14 years old, I started writing for the school newspaper on the wall. They were pretty serious stuff; I wanted to change the world, I focused on the social and environmental issues, talked about justice, equality, religion, etc. When I became a young man my point of view about life has changed, I became more romantic, adventurous and a bit selfish. At college I wrote fictional stories and poems. Most of them got lost, just a few of them survived. Those were all in Turkish. When I moved to the US, I stopped reading and writing in Turkish altogether, I focused on learning English, so I only read English books. After a while I started writing my thoughts in English as well, which I was not very good at it. Now I only keep a short diary, but sometimes I feel like I am better at expressing my thoughts in Turkish since it’s easier.
My childhood dream was to travel the world and write an adventure book just like “Evliya Celebi” who traveled the world in 1600’s and wrote a very long book about his travels called Seyahatname.
I like walking in the city, hanging out with family and friends, eating, going to the movies, traveling, doing tai-chi, drinking hot tea and working. I enjoy listening to people who have interesting stories. I like taking food photos and reviewing restaurants online. I collect Starbucks gift cards and enjoy body and foot massages; reflexology. On the weekends we try get out of the city to get some fresh air, we also try to travel overseas each summer. I have been in 25+ different countries and wish to travel more. I have been working at Dinolingo, a language learning company for 10+ years. The company has been somewhat successful and survived through tough times. I like what I do. I am kinda happy with my appearance, however because I love food so much, I gain weight so easily and fast. I would love to be 10 lb. lighter.
I have been married to an Irish born & raised woman for 18 years, we have two kids. We have lived in Manhattan for five years, then moved to Florida for seven years, then back to Manhattan for another five years. Finally we moved to the Bronx last year. Life in a small Manhattan apartment was difficult especially with the kids. Since we moved out to the Bronx, life got a bit easier with more space.
My wife and I have a very good relationship, we come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, religions, culture, etc… but we are similar, we go out and try new restaurants and enjoy small parties and gatherings with family and friends, we both like to travel, we give each other some room to breathe and let each other take vacations and trips while the other is taking care of the kids.
At the end of 2018, the doctors coincidentally discovered a big tumor in my stomach, it was like a grapefruit. I had a major surgery in 2019, unfortunately 3 years later the tumor came back, which was smaller, and I had a second surgery. After 6 months I had more tumors showing up. It seems like these tumors are growing in my mesentery wall (small bowels) called; Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma, which is a super rare soft tissue sarcoma; it’s a type of cancer, not many known cases available, it happens like in 1 in 10,000,000 or fewer.
After the first surgery, my point of view about life has changed. I try to enjoy life every minute of it and try not to get upset too easily and to stay upset too long. I started not to care too much about what other people think about me, I always cared about what people will think of me. In the past couple of years I started thinking more about after life, I started praying time to time. I am a muslim but I think life is a game, you better get as many points as you can before going to the next game.
Due to my serious illness, I am not sure how much time I have left in this game, I may have a couple of months or maybe a few years if I’m lucky, of course I wish to stay a long time, I wish to be healthy and witness my kids growing up, but who knows? I believe everything has a better reason, I am not upset or scared or angry. I take the fact as it is. Everybody needs to leave this game at some point. I am getting my affairs ready just incase. Therefore I don’t have future goals, I have only immediate goals, they are;
- write short stories
- eat less, do the intermittent fasting or regular fasting
- do tai-chi everyday, exercise
- sing more songs
- take some photos, videos, organize the old ones, put them in folders
- help others, humans, animals, environment, do good, feel good
- host parties, hang out with family and friends,
- keep working, make money and keep providing for the family
- travel the world a little bit more
I have six brothers (no sisters). My parents and four of my brothers live in Turkiye. I have a brother in the States and a brother in Japan. We are very close, we talk once a week on a video call, and try to visit our parents every summer.
Countries I have been:
Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Poland
Philippines
Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
Italy, (Vatican), Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkiye, Ukraine
Germany, France, Netherlands
Ireland, England, N. Ireland
Japan, S. Korea, Hong Kong
Australia, India, Nepal, Bahrain
Morocco
USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Bahamas
My Footprints (The places I lived in for 6 months or longer)
— Bursa (Ages 0-17)
- Gazcilar. (born)
- Setbasi.
- Kemercesme.
- Gazcilar, Kasapoglu.
- Zafer.
- Kaplikaya
— College, Istanbul (Ages 17-20)
- Kadirga, Kumkapi
- Tarabya,
— Back to Bursa (Ages 20-22)
- Kaplikaya
- Gazcilar
— Back to Istanbul (Ages 22-25)
- Tarabya.
- Davutpasa, Zeytinburnu
- Mecidiyekoy,
— New York (Ages 25 – 34)
- Rochester
- Batavia
- Avenue H
- Church.
- Prospect Park
- Manhattan
— Florida (Ages 34 – 41)
- M. Palm
- J. Bay
- P. Royal (Eisles)
- Bram
- T. Way
— NYC (Ages 41 – ~ present)
- BPC
- Pawling
- Bronx
Serdar Acar 