Throughout my travels I am often asked where I am from. My response gets looks of sympathy and sometimes horror when I say, South Dakota. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to get out of this place. I had big dreams of graduating from college and leaving this state. I was born and raised here, but I longed for the life of a big city. Ten years later I am still here.
Before I had the chance to make my great escape I fell in love. Suddenly it didn’t matter what my address was. Three daughters later, I have no regrets. I don’t ever feel like I gave up on my big dreams. My dreams just started to change a little bit.
I don’t live on the beach and I can’t go to the theatre for the latest production. Wal-mart and Target are an hour and a half away. But, none of that matters. Every morning that I wake up is a new adventure.
I think about my childhood, I remember playing Ditch in the Dark until bedtime, packing a picnic into a little red wagon with the neighborhood kids, and meeting at the big tree for a game of baseball (even the girls got to play). I started living life to the fullest as a young girl, I am still not sure what I was trying to escape from.
We are trying to create an unforgettable childhood for our kids. Someday if they try to escape from this place, I hope they can look back and remember: riding bike to City Park to draw, camping at the river with our friends or in our backyard as a family, and riding horse in the beautiful rolling hills of South Dakota.
I think about the Dr Seuss poem, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”. Who would have known that my poem of life would read, “Oh, the Places You’ll Stay.”
Post by Amy Thue. Amy is a writer, traveler, crafter, chef , baker, chauffeur, singer, story-teller, and memory maker, but most importantly she is a wife and mother. When she isn’t blogging at Girlfriends Get Real or Unforgettable Childhood she is refereeing the drama that comes with three girls in the house. When she gets a moment she can be found with her nose in a book or online planning out her family’s next adventure. Amy can be found on twitter as @AmyThue.
This post is part of Blissdom Conference ticket giveaway.
