Sunday, August 9, 2009

August 9, 2007

Two years ago we spent our last night in California. I had gone out to dinner ealier in the evening with my friend Julia. She dropped me off at the house we were staying at since our stuff had already been loaded up onto the moving truck the day before. We pulled into the driveway and I choked back tears and we said good-bye like it would only be a day or two before we saw each other again.

Later that night my friend Staci and her husband dropped by. That's when I lost it. I cried and cried as I hugged her.

The next day we were on the plane, heading to our new home in McKinney, Texas.

It was a little weird flying out of the Ontario airport not knowing when I'd see those mountains again. Or the freeways. Or my friends.

California is where I became an adult. I moved there after college and had lived there for 11 years. I had my first "real" jobs there. I got married while living there. I had my family there too.

I learned to be more accepting of others there--their beliefs and their culture. I learned that life throws some awful curveballs at you, but friends will be there to rally around you when you need it most. I learned that sometimes you even have to leave the place you love, but that you carry that place with you in your pocket wherever you go.

And so here I am, two years later, crying at the memories of that night. I do carry California and my beloved friends around with me where ever I go. It shows in my laid-back attitude about so many things (undreamt of before my time there). It shows in my actions as I try to be the friend that so many people in California were to me. Hey, it even shows in my disdain for Tex-Mex :)

So, to all my California friends, I say I love you, I miss you, and I'm so glad you were part of my life!