Saying Goodbye

It's the attitude of the college senior to her friends on graduation day; whatever it takes to keep it together.  It's not goodbye, it's see you soon.  She's always looking forward to the next time she'll see their beautiful smiling faces.  I said those words last year, and this year is no different.

Yesterday I said goodbye to some of the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure to work with.  I've been challenged to grow and supported in my initiatives through the course of this most recent position than through any other work experience in my young professional life.  I cannot thank them enough for their mentorship and caring.

They surprised me with a lunch on my last day of work - almost everyone could make it; just for me.  Each of my colleagues submitted song titles to be compiled on a 2-disc set :) of roadtrip tunes for the ride out west.  It meant so much to me to get the opportunity to spend some of my last moments with the other members of our team.


And so, as my days in North Carolina are getting fewer, and the door is closing on this latest chapter of experiences, I want to say to everyone in RL&H, see you soon.

 

Colorado? Are you serious?

I'm not the stereotypical Southern Belle. I grew up in the mid-South, was never a member of the Junior League, and my descendants were sharecroppers in Appalachia. However, I am qualified to be a member of the DAC (Daughters of the Confederacy), attended cotillion for 3 years as a tweenager, and have sweet tea practically running through my veins; that's gotta count for somethin' y'all. I love my family and the Old North State, but something is missing.

It was the summer of 1989. My parents loaded my toddler-self, my kindergartener brother, and my newly retired grandparents into our 1985 two-toned "Big Blue" Suburban and left North Carolina in our rearview mirror as we traveled cross-country to the open arms of my aunt and uncle awaiting us in California.

Twenty years later, I want to go back. I've spent my childhood, adolescence, and college years in cities that could be reached in less than an hour of each other. So I've been praying for almost a year for an out-of-state adventure, and each time God says, "Colorado."

Colorado? Are you serious?

-I don't know anyone from Colorado!

Now I do.

-I've never spent time in Colorado!

Now I have.

-I'm too nervous to move that far from my family!

Not anymore.

Isn't God miraculous?

These entries will be a way to share my adventure with those at home, and provide an outlet for me to try and make sense of the new life God is making for me in the wild-west. :)