PA Life, Young Love, Hobbies, and Life of an Up-Rooted Alaskan: The Great Migration: Day 1

I haven’t written in a long time, because life has been crazy. So basically here’s a summary of life: I finished PA school on December 12^th, we packed up our car and the animals, and I am writing as we are literally driving on I-64 East on our way across the country. We’ve just finished up having lunch in Charleston, WV, with some friends from Marietta (Ohio, where Seth and I went to undergrad), and our first stop is Lexington, KY to see more Marietta friends. The goal is to get to Boise in a few days to spend Christmas with my big sister, Rach, and brother-in-law, Nic. However, driving away from Appalachia, our home for the past 6 years, I am feeling like I need to say a few things to the places we have loved and left.

To Marietta,

Driving through Charleston, WV, I am reminded of you. Grey overcast winter skies, rolling Appalachian foothills covered with leafless trees, big steel bridges, and old OLD houses, some well cared for and some decaying and boarded. Many people I love, more then words can possibly express, I met there and/or continue to live there. Thank you for being my home while I found and began those friendships, and I hope that you continue to be a place that people love and adore because you remind them of those friendships.

To Roanoke,

You are beautiful, southern charming, and just so ‘cool.’ An upcoming craft brewery hot spot of the south with some of the best outdoors the east coast could imagine. I also did a lot of growing (up) with you. I learned the power of quiet. I learned what it really means to be loved and cared for by a church. I learned how much location does not matter when the people you love are not there. Although some hard lessons, I am thankful for every one. There are people we love there too, and I hope you care for them and make their lives better as you did for us for 2.5 years. Oh, and you were the place Seth and I got our first dog and cat, and for me, that is infinitely special.

Dear Seattle,

I don’t know you yet, but I am excited to know you. I am a little intimidated of your size. We ‘ve never lived in a truly large city, but you are among mountains, lakes, and the oceans, so I think will adjust just fine. I am also thankful for your large international airport that people can come see us through and we can get to Alaska quickly and (sometimes) cheaply.

Many people have asked how I am feeling, and I am reminded of this quote that I have shared before.

“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more then one place.” Miriam Adeney

But even in the midst of this sadness, I also feel this:

“The mountains are calling, and we must go.”

John Muir

Day 1. Roanoke à Lexington. Dog and cat are riding surprisingly well, and both are in the back seat asleep at this very moment. The suitcases we have tied to the top of the car haven’t flown off either. So overall, successful first day of the great migration west.

Our last moments in Roanoke! Car is loaded and ready!