Hey Y'all,
I'm currently sitting in the Louisville airport headed back to Albany, New York after a very quick but great weekend spent in Kentucky to celebrate Kaylee's wedding! It's still such a concept to wrap my head around that almost 2 years ago she told me about how she got engaged while sitting together at midnight in the middle of a Steak and Shake restaurant and she hid her ring from me so that she could tell the story with the most dramatic flare that she could and then show me her ring as a surprise. We both have a little taste for exaggeration.
And now she's a wife. A beautiful bride and a beautiful ceremony that took me and my old coworkers to the southern parts of Kentucky to her and her husband's (gasp...she's MARRIED) home town of Somerset. It was all very much exactly how she wanted it to be and how she had described it and I couldn't be happier for her and Jay. After their honeymoon, the two will live in Lexington where Jay will finish out his schooling to be a Doctor of medicine and she recently got a job in Lexington as well.
Doesn't that just sound like a dream?
No, I'm not jealous this is their life for the next week...not at all. Have fun Kaylee and Jay!
Gosh dangit, everyone can stop growing up and getting their lives all situated now! I changed my mind I don't want to be an adult!
As much as I do want to talk about the wedding and how it was mostly family and us friends from grad school, and how we were the only ones on the dance floor and everyone said we had the accents, not the other way around and how one of the groomsman started to hit on my very un-single friend so we were going to pretend to be lesbian lovers (since we basically are..totally joking! But it was our on-going joke since we have slept in the same bed more times in the past month than she has even seen her boyfriend so take that how you will) but since we were in the south we figured that would maybe not be a joke to be taken lightly (and probably anger an otherwise un-bridezilla like bride) I want to finish up my summer time adventure stories. (Kaylee, you'll be on your honeymoon anyway so the timing is perfect)
The last real week of my time in Carbondale was a very special time for me. I will think of it fondly and those who helped make it special for me. I got the chance to say good bye to my old office and bosses and coworkers. My director was complimentary and assured me that I could always reach out if I needed them. And then I said good bye to Lane, my direct supervisor, boss. I went in knowing full well that I was going to cry like a baby but tried really hard not too. Shocker. I cried. And he told me some last advice and that he was proud of me and to go spread my wings.
Cue all of the emotions like ever just come gushing out. Ugh.
Don't do it!! Hold it together!
I about fell to the floor, how was I supposed to navigate being a professional without him? It will be very hard to not hold any future boss to his level. We learned a lot together and he welcomed me as one of his own family and I will forever be appreciative of that. I was able to count on him when I made mistakes or needed help but knew that he would always have my back to let me take on new responsibilities and try things out on my own and he let me fail a few times. But he was always there when I had problems. He was understanding when I needed to take time off for me and was there for me when I got broken into. He was much more than just a boss who I only saw behind a desk. I worked hard for him to make sure I never let him down. That’s the sign of a good leader, someone who you want to work for and not just go through the motions.
I left the Rec Center, my home of the past two years and it was a very surreal and very scary moment. Everyone said that I was ready and that I was prepared because of what the Rec had taught me but was that the case? Guess we’ll have to wait and find out for sure.
That weekend was the 4th of July and I spent the 4th with my Rec friends hiking and swimming in lakes and rivers. Than we went to a neighboring town to watch fireworks and had a little picnic while celebrating America’s birthday with explosives and wine. It was perfect. I got covered in mosquito bites and we swam in dirty lake water but it was refreshing and care free. I was with people who are genuine and real. They made me feel apart of their clan, accepted and appreciated for being nothing other than me. And it was the perfect little ending to my time in Carbondale, as I had started my journey with the GA’s on a camping retreat on that same lake 2 years before. Same place, same lake, but a completely different girl.
We were forced into working together, being Graduate Assistants and thus we had no choice but to have a relationship, albeit it could have been just work but I was fortunate enough to become really great friends with all of the GA’s. And I hope to stay in touch.
Pull yourself together, Woman!!
I spent Sunday cleaning my apartment and finishing packing my last few things. I ended up tossing a bunch of stuff since if it didn’t fit in Pearl, my little car, it wasn’t coming. And one by one, my friends who were still around all stopped by to help pack a little but mostly just to be with me and chat, get our last good byes. We reminisced and laughed and I tried not to cry. I made it til they left and then would lose it and would have to do it all over again. I didn’t know a human being could make so many tears, it’s so exhausting.
One person said they would come back and say good bye but this good bye was going to be the hardest. But they never did.
I can’t lie, this hurt a lot more than I thought it would. I waited and worried and then I got deeply sadden because I realized all I wanted was to just be with that one person. Out of all my friends and people that I cared about I just wanted to sit in my empty living room and laugh with them like we had so many other times before. I felt very alone and realized that I would have to get used to that feeling in New York. This was my reality. They didn’t want to be with me. Maybe because it was too hard or because they were busy, or couldn’t be bothered. And then I got mad and when I did see them, it wasn’t pretty.
I wish I could go back and not drive off like I did. I wish we could remember why we fought and I miss them too much to be mad anymore. But I hope they know that I wish they were right here and that we were all good and playing yahtzee. I hope they know I’ll never forget them as long as I live. They always knew how to push my buttons and they gave me everything and nothing but we always seemed to work it out. But when it mattered, and I wished they would have been there, they weren’t. And so, I guess that’s where wishing gets me. Watching Criminal Minds reruns, drinking wine, blogging and missing people I shouldn't. Living the dream, I am, living the dream.
*drinks more wine*
The only thing left to do was grab my friend Sophie and make our way to Albany, New York. So we headed up to Detroit to stay with a friend before driving through Canada just to say we did to go through Niagara Falls the following day. The first day of driving was less than spectacular. We saw a lot of the corn fields of Illinois and Indiana. I’ll show you what about 499 of the 500 miles we drove through looked like…
So. Much. Corn. CORN EVERYWHERE
Yeah… it’s super boring but we had the radio and she had to drive partly because my eyes were watering from allergies…*coughcough yeah sure “allergies” cough* It kinda all hit me as we left the state of Illinois and I didn't know when and if I would ever be back to that state. And then we drove next to a corn field and the allergies hit me like a ton of bricks.
But we finally got to Detroit and got to visit with an old friend and see how he has his life all together with his big boy job and his own little bachelor pad. But because it was the middle of the week our stay was short and we had to leave early in the morning as he had the big boy job to go to.
And I’ll write about our second day of traveling and the epic-ness of Niagara Falls!
To be continued!
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