Coming Home

My senior year of high school I was one of the girls considered for the title “least likely to leave Stockton.” Oh how I rebelled against that… I wanted more. More life experiences, more places to live, more people, but mostly I think I was just searching for more me.

I left that small town, graduated college in one of the largest cities in the state and immediately got a job in that same city at a large Children’s hospital. It was there I started to realize my heart was still drawn to a “small town” feel. On a small tight-knit med-surg floor I found a home. We not only knew each other on day and night shift, but we also knew most people from other departments; the security guards, respiratory therapists, child life specialists and doctors all knew us by name.

3 years later I found myself moving on yet again. It was a little harder this time but I was married to a military man, so on to Colorado Springs I went. During my post grad I did my internship at an amazing clinic in Pueblo West, Colorado that gave me all the feels- It was just like home. On the outskirts of a large city I had found this farming and ranching community that fit my country heart like a glove. I loved it so much I even ended up taking a job there one day a week after I graduated, despite the hour drive each way.

However, I didn’t realize what I truly wanted until land adjacent to my parents’ came up for sale. I didn’t just want to live somewhere in the country, I wanted to go home. So my husband and I talked it over, we talked to my parents, we asked if the seller would be willing to negotiate price and he was not. However, my parents were. My didn’t want me to say goodbye to the land I grew up on and my parents needed us closer. Thus a seed was planted.

I immediately asked a contact from home to let me know if they heard of any open positions and when we’d move back. Within 3 months I had an interview. As God would have it that interview led to a job that, not only allowed us to move home the following year, it also allowed me to move home early when my husband got deployed.

Once home, I grew nervous as my start date approached. I knew I’d eventually be seeing children of old school mates. School mates I’d pretty well ditched to figure myself out. That eventuality became a reality, and I was welcomed with wider opened arms than I’d ever expected. I have loved every moment of taking care of my friends’ kids and reconnecting with this community that raised me.