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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.”
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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.
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