I recently met someone originally from Ohio who left home
and spent a great deal of time on the West Coast like I did. We reminisced about California and some of
the places where we visited and it really made me reflect on my life then… and
now.
I got on an airplane for the first time in my life in 1990
when I was 22 years old and moved to Boston to be a nanny for a wonderful
family. About 8 months after I moved in
with them, they were transferred to the San Francisco Bay Area so I
went with them. I stayed with them and
took care of their beautiful girls for a few years and then moved across the
Bay to Oakland where I had a cute little 1920s studio apartment in a trendy
part of the city. I worked at a printing
company in a bad part of Oakland and went to night school to finish my degree.
(My BSBA degree is from California State University.)
I traveled all over California
and the western states: Los Angeles, Las
Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Seattle, British Columbia, Santa
Cruz, etc. I used to take BART (a train)
to downtown San Francisco (across from Union Square between Saks Fifth Avenue
and Neiman Marcus) to get my hair cut every other month. I knew the back roads to the Napa Valley and
Sonoma Valley. I looked at palm trees
and the Bay Bridge every day on my way to work.
I didn’t own an ice scraper or a winter coat. I rode my bike all
year. I had a great life!
But I missed home.
I missed my friends.
I missed my family.
I missed where everything was familiar.
I missed me.
I’ve been back home in Ohio for 19 years and could not be
happier with my life! God has blessed me
with two beautiful children, the most loving family a girl could ever ask for,
friends that are absolutely incredible, and peace.
I needed that time and those miles of separation to find
that what is most important to me is really right where I started. Home sweet home.
I’m back home with myself – and it feels fantastic!
