Two days before Christmas 2014, my family’s lives were thrown up in the air. My dad came home and mentioned that he had ended his employment at the company he worked for. Not only was this shocking, but the immediate fear set in with the “what now?” My parents are truly some of the most hardworking people you will ever meet. I tell people all the time that growing up with a nurse for a mom and a CFO for a dad is one of the best combinations you can get. However, these combinations entail 13-hour days, working holidays and very stress-related problems, but both my parents always have pulled through and I commend them for never being irresponsible financially.
That’s why I wasn’t surprised when my dad started looking for a new job right away. The man could at least spend a couple months relaxing, but nope, he wanted to get back to the grind to provide for his family. His job requires a specialty that most places don’t offer, so places like San Francisco, New Orleans and Pittsburgh were brought up. I started to feel uneasy. My family can’t just…move away? No. I was born and raised here. My parents have spent over half their lives here, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us and my dad came down to his decision: Missouri.
I know, I know…Missouri? What? That’s what I said! I blew it off. There was no way my family of six was going to go to Missouri. My senior year soon became my parents traveling to look at homes, deciding how to put the house up for sale and dealing with everything else going on, too. Dad moved down at the end of March and I felt a part of myself crumble. My safety net, my whole life was now gone and it was up to us girls at home to figure stuff out.
Of course, my mom was on top of everything, but a little piece of me died off that spring. I was selling the house my parents built 13 years ago. I was packing up my room that I had spent months decorating to be perfect. And I was facing the fact that my only family was going to be over one thousand miles away.
I also chose to stay in Idaho until college started in late August, which meant I didn’t have a set place to live. My mom begged me and fought me to move with her, but I stuck my ground. I’m too loyal to leave my home and she just didn’t understand that. My sweet dental hygienist, who is a single mom, offered me a place to stay with her for six weeks and it ended up being the best six weeks of my summer. Of course, working two jobs was tiring and I missed my family, but getting to know her and her daughter better made me realize not all family has to be blood related.
At times, it was really hard. People were out getting college things with their parents and here I was doing it alone. I cried a few times in the stores, but sucked it up and realized this is the process of adulting. Eventually, it was time for me to start my journey at Idaho State University, and my dad made the way across the country to help me move in. It was only for a couple days, but the quality time with him made me feel better about this whole process. I thankfully never went through the ‘I miss my family and want to go home’ my first month, so I spent a lot of other time hanging out with friends and exploring Pocatello. Don’t get me wrong–I called my parents a few times crying because I felt alone, but they reassured me that they’re always there for me no matter what.
As of right now, Idaho is my home. Of course, traveling to Missouri for holidays is fun and exciting, but where I feel most comfortable is here. (Maybe not Pocatello of all places, but you get what I mean). It’s been a year exactly this month that my life really changed, but I have to say I’m pretty grateful. I grew as a person and learned a lot about how to do things for myself.
