The Huge Step to Marking Time

I took a huge personal step.  I moved to Chapin, South Carolina from my safety net of Richmond, Kentucky six months ago.  I would love to say that I had this dream where a pink alligator sat down next to me on a log in the middle of an enchanted swamp and not only explained the meaning of life to me in great detail, but also that the Wade family must move to South Carolina or the space time continuum would implode and end all life in the known universe.  However, that wasn't the case.  Darren, (the husband), got a better job offer.  (FYI I really liked my bullshit explanation better)

Why do I call Richmond, Kentucky my safety net you may ask?  I have spent most of my life there.  I know everything there is to know about my town.  I can tell you every street and every hangout and who that giant black man is that sits on his lawn mower and rotates from major intersection to major intersection singing and waving either wearing a giant sombrero or a Santa outfit advertising various businesses, law offices, or political candidates.   If you have a wreck, I can tell you which cops would show up to help, which EMT would be there to patch you up, who is going to be working at the hospital when you get there, and who the Coroner is if the occasion calls for it. 

Bottom line: I love my comfortable burrow so much, that I never take risks unless pushed.  As in pushed, I mean with such force it could break Earth's gravity and orbit the moon.  I also had this overwhelming guilt and insane compulsion that I was required to stay and take care of my Dad and a set of grandparents.  Also, keep the home fires burning.  This stemmed from my brother Kenny leaving for the USMC and war, Mom leaving for Indiana and her new life, and Brett leaving for the USAF and war. 

The guilt waned slightly after the Touched by an Angel moment with Dad as he told me to get my head out of my ass because he was a grown man and didn't need looking after. (He still calls me 8 times a day on average.)

My Mom, in all of her exquisite, adorable bluntness, pointed out the fact that Kenny had been gone from Kentucky since 1997, she had been living in Indiana for 7 years, and I was the only one still at base camp.

The guilt vanished completely with a Jerry Springer, confrontation, that had a dash of Dr. Phil, Oprah, 2 cups of Ripley's Believe it or Not, 4 sticks of Heartbreak Ridge, baked in the grandparents oven at 400 degrees for an hour.  I would go into more detail, but that ship sailed long ago, hit an iceberg and sank off the coast of Canada.  You might have seen it on Fox News.

At this point I am out of guilt and excuses.  The job induced move and the grandparent relationship meltdown has actually been a great growing up tool for me.  I feel brave and free for the first time, like we are finally free to live our lives. Of course, I get homesick from time to time and I have to put on my big girl panties and climb out of a depression every now and then.  That will diminish with time.  It has to, because we are just marking time here in South Carolina for a couple of years.  We have BIG plans and BIG dreams.  The next stop for this Wade family is Australia.  Home of kangaroos, cricket, the Dog on the Tucker box, and the birthplace of Darren J. Wade (aka The Husband).