Kids, in the summer of 2010, I had just graduated college and was looking for a job. That was the year I lived at your Grandma G's house in my old bedroom. Of course, it no longer had Mickey Mouse on the walls, and the top bunk bed was back in your Uncle Trevor's old room, but it was still just as full of all my junk and dreams as when I was growing up.
All that summer I was looking for a teaching job. I had the usual college-graduate high hopes of getting the ideal job in an ideal part of the country where I would meet the ideal man and thus begin the ideal adult life. But if I've learned anything, kids, it's that life never quite goes the way you expect it to.
To begin with , of the fifty applications I sent out all over the country that summer, only one school called back and asked me for an interview. It was in Douglas, Wyoming. Now, I never, ever wanted to live in Wyoming because I couldn't think what I'd do with myself in a state that has an even smaller population that Montana. But I was thinking that maybe this would be my big break. It could have been, I guess. I could have gotten the job, met the ideal man, discovered that it was actually an ideal part of the country, and we'd all be living comfortably in Douglas, Wyoming, instead of here. But as you know, kids, that did not happen. I didn't get that job. But it's a good thing I didn't, because if I had, I never would have moved to Maryland.
And I wouldn't have gotten a daycare job back in Whitefish. Now, call me crazy, but little kids have a way of winning your heart. And there were plenty of little kids at the daycare where I worked that fall. There were also plenty of kids who tested my patience. In fact, sometimes you guys remind me of them. But, if I had never worked at that daycare, I would never have learned to love you even when you test me to my limits. And, if I had never gotten the daycare job, I wouldn't have gone across the parking lot to the church to eat lunch every day.
And I never would have felt so much a part of the church. I could feel my roots sink down with every minute I spent there. I played in the band every week, I taught children's church on Wednesday nights, I went to a small group on Sunday nights. And everything got me closer to people whom I came to think of as part of my family. If I hadn't stayed in Whitefish, I never would have grown to love church people and been so determined to find a good church when I moved away.
If I had gotten a teaching job and moved out of Grandma G's house that fall of 2010, I never would have grown so many roots, and I would have missed out on one amazing friendship in particular. That was the fall I went dancing in a swing club for the first time, at sushi for the first time, got in shape for the first time, and actually enjoyed life for the first time since I left my old life in Spokane. It was a strong friendship that was really good for me, so I made sure it lasted even after he moved away two months later. And if he hadn't moved away, leaving me with the taste of how nice life can be when you make the effort to be bold and make new friends, I probably would have lingered longer in the comfort of home, and I may have never moved to Maryland after all.
Now, I had always wanted to move to the east coast. I don't quite know why. And Maryland, since it touches the Atlantic Ocean and is three hours from Washington D.C. and four from New York City, was good enough for me. You could kind of say moving there was a dream come true.
So you see, kids, life never goes according to plan, but you can bet that it'll work out in the end. When I walked across that stage and moved the tassel on my graduation cap, I didn't know I'd be learning how to love at a daycare, or that I'd meet so many wonderful new people, or that I'd get to live on the east coast like I'd always wanted. But as it turned out, I'm glad my high hopes didn't come true the way I had planned. Because moving to Maryland was another link in the chain of events that has gotten all of us here today.... But that's a different story.
Does this writing sound vaguely familiar or confusing? Click here for the answer!
Also, for the sake of clarity, the slated move date is December 26.