Leaving

 The day of my big move has finally arrived. I will spend the next three days in a car with one of my best friends (who flew down from Minnesota to drive up with me), three cats, and some pretty fantastic playlists before settling into my new place. As I leave, I want to acknowledge the things I gained from this chapter of my life:

  • A Master's degree
  • 8 tattoos
  • 3 cats
  • The beginnings of a less contentious relationship with religion (HUGE shout out to St. Mark's Episcopal Church for providing a safe place to start that healing)
  • An entry into the poetry community (I will miss the folks at Spoken and Heard nights!)
  • Two life-long dreams related to working with animals achieved
  • More fantastic friends than I can name
  • A sense of self-sufficiency and confidence I can handle what comes next

These five and a half years in Texas have been a lot of things, but mostly I think they were what I needed to prepare to really become myself and strike out on my own. 

 Here's to the next five years and all the adventures to come!

 

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