Spring of 2007, I graduated from University with my Bachelor’s Degree in English Communications at the ripe old age of 20.  I remember driving home from school, my cute, purple Sebring Convertible loaded down as full as I could fit it with all of the important things that I pulled out of my dorm room.  I drove alone, my parents and sister in other cars, and spent the three hour trip back to my parents’ house listening to Rascal Flatts “My Wish” on repeat.

I sang along, the lyrics making life sound almost easy, like it would make sense.  In that moment, the song resonated, maybe because it’s really just about figuring things out, and at twenty, I had a lot of things to figure.   I’m not sure life ever makes sense the way you hope it will while it happens.  In my admittedly somewhat limited experience, you are seldom allowed to see the path you’ll be walking until it’s behind you.

…

Two nights ago, Jeremiah and I packed up and moved our bed, clothes, and other everydays across the river to the ranch.  It was after dark and wildly cold, but we did it.

He drove the truck and trailer; I followed behind, driving my cute little Jetta and listening to the radio.  This time, I didn’t have a song on repeat.  (Although, Rockin’ Me by Steve Miller Band popped up and felt apt.)  I did have the same feeling though.  I was in the middle of one of the big moments, one that I could recognize even as a turning point.

When I drove home in the Sebring, I honestly thought I knew what direction I was going, but I hadn’t the slightest.  That drive took me back home.  The path it started me down was towards a Master’s Degree, then a husband, then, fourteen years after I started working there as a teenager, the path brought me right back to the ranch.

Also, just in case you were curious, here are the lyrics to that song I played on repeat driving home:

Rascal Flatts – “My Wish”