Inspired Blogging #4 - The day you left home

4. The day you left home

Believe it or not, the day I left home, was the day I got married. It almost seems odd in the world we live in but that was my reality. I was a Junior in college, yup, only 20 years old. I was not even legal to drink at my own wedding. And are you ready for this... I didn't! Not one drop. Laughable now, but I felt obligated back then. Not even the champagne toast.

 

Anyway, my wedding day was a beautiful blur. Church wedding in the woods. All of my family and friends. NINETY degrees on May 30th and I barely cared. The reception was at a beautiful reception hall. The food was amazing. The music was perfect. It was the perfect wedding. Obviously, the groom wasn't half bad.

We left for our honeymoon the next morning and spent over a week in California. We just tooled around different cities, staying in different hotels. It was a great trip. The funny thing is it didn't dawn on me until I came home that I was officially leaving home.

The day we got back my parents picked us up at the airport. We went to their house for a welcome home picnic. When it was time to go home I went to say goodbye to my parents and totally fell apart. It was like it all crashed down on me at that moment. I wouldn't be waking up in the house of the people who took care of me for 20 years. I adore my parents. I enjoy their company more than I can say. No more weekend coffee and newspaper reading. No more helping with dinner. No more sitting out back by the pond. All of that was, of course, untrue as I still spent a large amount of time with my family.

I settled into the idea of married life very quickly and still spent plenty of time with my parents and Genna. So I guess my leaving home story was bittersweet. I married my soul mate and began a beautiful new life. But I also left behind a pretty terrific existence of being my parents child. I am very thankful that I now live somewhere in between. I can be both a wife and a child.