Monday, November 14, 2011

"We were on a break"

The famous line from 'Friends' uttered time an time again from Ross Geller as he kept defending himself to Rachel Green have been ringing in my head tonight about this blog. I just had to break up with it for a while, and even now I am not sure if we are back together for good. I am here now and I am writing and that is all that matters, right?

I had to sit down and write tonight because today is my one year anniversary from when I left the only state I had ever lived in, California. I didn't leave by myself of course, my whole family left. My husband, my two girls and me. Took a leap of faith and packed everything we owned and moved all the way to Virginia. I remember at the time I kept looking at maps of the US and thinking 'oh.my.gosh. that is so far'. I didn't know how I would do being that far from all my friends and family. I will be honest, in the beginning it was just awful. There were times when it was good, days when we would wake up and think 'ok, we can make this work' but most days were just downright depressing. We left California because we had virtually lost everything we owned. We were the epitome of victims of the recession. We needed a new start and we figured we might as well try VA. Turns out Virginia might be for lovers, but it ain't for us. We are not Virginians. The good news is we left there and high tailed it down south to South Carolina. Well y'all who knew I was such a southerner at heart. This place is just wonderful. This is not to say that living here has solved our problems, that we are back on the financial fast track...we're not. But what this move has done for us has been so much better than that. It has brought us so close. We are so connected as a family. When you move somewhere new it takes a while to make friends, not just for the kids but for us adults too...so consequently we have spent all of our time together, as a family. It has been priceless. Everything we have been through has been humbling, and at times humiliating but it has made us a strong family. Stronger than we ever knew we could be.

Some days I wake up and miss California so bad I can taste it. For 41 years it was all I knew. I was and still am a very proud California girl. It's a beautiful state, it's full of promise, glitz, glamour and all the things you see on TV. It is a great place to grow up. It is a liberal state where you are taught to be politically correct so as not to offend anyone, you are taught tolerance of others that are different than you and people work very hard to maintain  their chosen lifestyle. All of those things can be wonderful. All of those things made me who I am. Both of my parents were born and raised in California. My roots run deep. I will never bad mouth the state where I am from, it's a part of me. I will say that living in the south has given me so many new perspectives. Here people are honest and tell you like it is, yet somehow they are still warm and friendly and manage not to be offensive (that's why they add things like 'bless your heart' or 'darlin' after everything they say, it just sounds nicer) They stand up for what they believe in, not worrying about who it may offend. They are steadfast in their beliefs and this is the bible belt. They believe in God and his will. They do for each other at every chance they get. They are proud to be southern, even if that means being poked fun at times. They aren't worried about what kind of car they drive or what kind of handbag they carry. Their door is always open and they will welcome you with open arms. This isn't 'home', California will always be home. But this? Well it's the best place for us right now. It is exactly what we needed and it is where I want to finish raising my kids. I want them to have a little bit of California and a little bit of South Carolina. I want them to have the best of both worlds and I do believe they are getting just that.

This post is a little heavier than I usually write on this blog, it's more of a 'so they will always remember' post but it was just how I was feeling tonight. I will get back to regularly scheduled programming next time. I will start blogging again and sharing my southern life, after all it IS what inspires me.


 Thanks for reading y'all.

1 comment:

  1. Nina bina I love you and this post. It made me get chilly bumps on my arms.;) As it turns out you are a little bit Country and a little bit Rock N' Roll. We are all on this journey and isn't it so neat how in a bad situation still you can see God's goodness. So glad you were brought here to S.C my life is enriched by you.

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