Growing up, all I wanted to was to get out of Oregon. I grew up just outside of Portland. First in Tigard, then moved to Sherwood, followed by Tualatin just a few short years later. Each move was a cathartic release from the pressures of being me, but also left me even more isolated than the move before it. For a long long time, it was just me and my mom.
When I was 18, I enrolled myself into a womens college in Virgina. With $25 in my pocket, I took a 4 day train ride to a state I'd never been in, to a school I'd never seen, with no place to stay that first night (as far as I knew) and learned just how self sufficient I could be. I only attended for one year.
I spent the following summer in Colorado Springs with my cousin and uncle. That was a lesson in tyrannical depression. I fought valiantly to return to my school, even without any support from my family but ultimately, when I found out my best friend who was stationed in Anchorage Alaska, became pregnant it seemed only logical to move up there and help out with the baby.
A month after I moved up to Alaska, we had a falling out and we haven't spoken since.
Alaska is the place where I found myself, where everything started making sense. I often talk about leaving here, but it finds a way to get under your skin. My friends are here, the family I've created for myself is here. I've found my niche.
I enjoy traveling. This year I went to Ohio for a friends wedding, and last year I visited Oregon and my mother- we drove down to California and back up the hwy 101. I visited my cousin in Colorado just before she went off and got pregnant and married, and my grandfather just before he passed. In a few months I'll be heading to Hawaii for the first time, doing my first two races outside of Alaska.
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| Me and my mom, Summer 2010 |
When I was 18, I enrolled myself into a womens college in Virgina. With $25 in my pocket, I took a 4 day train ride to a state I'd never been in, to a school I'd never seen, with no place to stay that first night (as far as I knew) and learned just how self sufficient I could be. I only attended for one year.
I spent the following summer in Colorado Springs with my cousin and uncle. That was a lesson in tyrannical depression. I fought valiantly to return to my school, even without any support from my family but ultimately, when I found out my best friend who was stationed in Anchorage Alaska, became pregnant it seemed only logical to move up there and help out with the baby.
A month after I moved up to Alaska, we had a falling out and we haven't spoken since.
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| The Sleeping Lady, 2011 |
Alaska is the place where I found myself, where everything started making sense. I often talk about leaving here, but it finds a way to get under your skin. My friends are here, the family I've created for myself is here. I've found my niche.
I enjoy traveling. This year I went to Ohio for a friends wedding, and last year I visited Oregon and my mother- we drove down to California and back up the hwy 101. I visited my cousin in Colorado just before she went off and got pregnant and married, and my grandfather just before he passed. In a few months I'll be heading to Hawaii for the first time, doing my first two races outside of Alaska.
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1 comments:
Wow you have moved a lot! I live in Oregon and love it. It's a little on the rainy side, but I guess it's worth it because it's so green here! Love that!!
Keep focused on your fitness plan!
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