9 days ago
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Posted On: July 16th 2026, 03:38 pm
Ten years ago today, my life changed forever.
On July 15, 2016, I found myself in the middle of the attempted military coup in Turkey. What began as an ordinary trip became one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Surrounded by gunfire, explosions, and unimaginable uncertainty, I had no idea what the next hour—or even the next minute—would bring.
People often ask me what I remember most. It isn't just the chaos or wondering if I'd ever make it home.
It's the people.
I think about Bruce. We were complete strangers when that night began. By the end, we had become partners in survival. There's a bond that's created when two people navigate something like that together, and I'll always be grateful that I wasn't alone.
I think about everyone back home who refused to give up on me. Friends, family, and people I didn't even know were praying, making phone calls, sending messages, and doing everything they could to help get me home safely.
A special thank you will always belong to my hermanita, Luisa. She barely slept. She never stopped fighting for me. She carried hope for me during moments when I couldn't carry it for myself.
That experience taught me something I'll never forget:
Your net worth isn't always measured in dollars. Sometimes it's measured in people.
I've never felt wealthier than I did during those days.
What many people didn't see was what happened after I came home.
For nearly a year, I hid behind the trauma. I bottled everything up and tried to convince myself I was fine. Later, I realized I was living with PTSD. Trauma affected me in ways I never expected, including memory repression and dissociative amnesia. To this day, I still have little to no memory of much of those 24 hours.
Healing wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy.
But it was possible.
That experience also changed something much deeper within me.
For the first time, I understood with complete clarity that the United States no longer felt like home. The coup didn't create that feeling—it revealed it. It became the catalyst for a journey that eventually led me to build a life elsewhere, one filled with purpose, community, and peace.
Forever grateful.
On July 15, 2016, I found myself in the middle of the attempted military coup in Turkey. What began as an ordinary trip became one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Surrounded by gunfire, explosions, and unimaginable uncertainty, I had no idea what the next hour—or even the next minute—would bring.
People often ask me what I remember most. It isn't just the chaos or wondering if I'd ever make it home.
It's the people.
I think about Bruce. We were complete strangers when that night began. By the end, we had become partners in survival. There's a bond that's created when two people navigate something like that together, and I'll always be grateful that I wasn't alone.
I think about everyone back home who refused to give up on me. Friends, family, and people I didn't even know were praying, making phone calls, sending messages, and doing everything they could to help get me home safely.
A special thank you will always belong to my hermanita, Luisa. She barely slept. She never stopped fighting for me. She carried hope for me during moments when I couldn't carry it for myself.
That experience taught me something I'll never forget:
Your net worth isn't always measured in dollars. Sometimes it's measured in people.
I've never felt wealthier than I did during those days.
What many people didn't see was what happened after I came home.
For nearly a year, I hid behind the trauma. I bottled everything up and tried to convince myself I was fine. Later, I realized I was living with PTSD. Trauma affected me in ways I never expected, including memory repression and dissociative amnesia. To this day, I still have little to no memory of much of those 24 hours.
Healing wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy.
But it was possible.
That experience also changed something much deeper within me.
For the first time, I understood with complete clarity that the United States no longer felt like home. The coup didn't create that feeling—it revealed it. It became the catalyst for a journey that eventually led me to build a life elsewhere, one filled with purpose, community, and peace.
Forever grateful.
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