I blame my parents for my gypsy-like yearnings.
I was born in Kansas and within to two weeks my family moved. I have since moved 26 times. I have literally lived from coast to coast. Mostly in some seriously podunk towns.
I say I blame my parents but truly, I am grateful. I have had some wonderful opportunities because of this. The place I lived the longest of Pocatello, ID. Eights years total, moving back and forth for various reasons. You may wonder why I moved so much and I will get to that I promise. But I want to tell you about Pocatello first.
My father was attending Idaho State University for Engineering. He went to school and worked. My mother had a small country store. My younger brother and I attended a Private School for the arts. This town gave me some of the best memories of my life. Especially my school, Cre-Act, which was a block from our small 3 bedroom home on Johnson. My brother and I walked to and from school every day from my 1st grade to 5th grade years. The focus of the school was not on education but on nurturing our individual artistic talents. There were speech and art festivals, dance classes and a play every year. I found my love for speech and the stage, which has helped me become to confident woman I am today. The annual spring plays were some of my best memories. My mom always helped design the costumes and she and my father were there for every single performance. I remember waiting in the wings at the college auditorium so excited to recite my lines to the audience. For the years I was there we did the Jungle Book, Tom Sawyer, Swiss Family Robinson and a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. My favorite was the Swiss Family Robinson. I had a big part with plenty of lines. I thought I was a star!!
I always dreaded the end of school. My summers were pretty boring and my brother and I were by ourselves a lot while my parents were working. Sometimes we would take the bus to my mom's store to see her, often with flowers we had handpicked from our neighbors garden. (oops!) That actually didn't last very long. Our safe little town became not so safe when a friend of mine, that lived around the corner from me, was kidnapped, murdered and dismembered, her body parts put in styrofoam containers and sent down the snake river. Jeralee, may you rest...
After Pocatello, we moved to Iowa. From West Branch to Cosgrove to Fort Dodge. I still attended private Christian schools, which I loved because I made some amazing friends. I took dance lessons and performed in plays. I was student council president and organized talent shows and fundraisers, all with the unwavering support of my parents. The school I attended in Fort Dodge was a whole new world for me. I was so nervous for my first day of high school, but again I made some incredible friends.
In the middle of sophomore year we moved from Fort Dodge, IA to Syracuse, NY. Moving in the middle of the school year was a nightmare. I hated it. At the end of the semester I tranferred to another school to finish my high school years. Another Christian School that was very strict. We did not even have homecoming or prom, just banquets. Dancing was "of the Devil". Dude, they danced in the Bible. Are you serious? Oh well. If they had been aware of my after school activities I would have been prayed over and probably expelled. Not to mention my parents would have kicked my ass. Some of my favorite memories were skipping school and going to the club with my Soul Sista, Sarah. I love that girl. She made FHS tolerable.
After I finished high school, I moved a lot on my own. Keene, NH. Woodbrige, VA. Mannassas Park, VA. Fairfax, VA. Pasadena, MD. And now I am in Woodward, OK. I will go into the details as to how the hell I wound up in the middle of nowhere at another time.
I promised I would explain why I have moved so much. No, my father was not in the military. After he graduated, he got a job as a project manager and we moved when projects were finished. Because of this I have been so fortunate to see much of our amazing country. Places not mentioned: California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas
And now I have a serious case of wanderlust. I want to experience the world. I love to travel and do so at every opportunity.
And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul
It always comes as a surprise
When I feel my withered roots begin to grow
Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home
~Billy Joel
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