Once upon a time, a girl moved with her family from Sunrise Beach, Missouri to a white house with black shutters and columns on the front porch in Rolla. She was 4. For the next 10 years, she played on the green shag carpet and rolled down the hill and fought petulantly and went to school and climbed trees and cultivated friendships with the neighbors (except the ones who got mad when she and her brother played in their pampas grass) and she grew and laughed and cried. Many, many things happened, and the years bloomed and faded before her eyes. Eventually, as happens, she grew into a teenager. She fought self righteously and petulantly. The family moved to a new house in the woods outside of town. The older brother left for school. The girl sang and learned and had friends and boyfriends and regrets and plans.
In time she left for school, herself. She learned just how small was the resemblance between the self she knew she was, and the self she had wished for. She learned that her plans were unlikely and impractical. She learned how to fend for herself. And, when she wasn't busy with all of that, she did attend some classes. She emerged from the conclusion of her studies with a degree that was largely useless, a very vague plan, and a handful of worthy and precious friends.
So, what did she do? Why, she very daringly moved across the country with nothing but a car load full of stuff, and anxious determination - all in pursuit of...employment? No. Adventure? No. Love? Well...more like conviction. After living in the same town with her long distance love for several months, she agreed to marry him, which she did, the next spring in Missouri.
She still fights petulantly and self righteously, with her husband and two children in a Missouri town west of St. Louis.
No comments:
Post a Comment