The Yello Brick Road--Final Red River Home post.

Tomorrow marks the first day of July, which will be the first day of our last month here in our Red River home. We are moving to West Virginia where my husband will begin working toward his Masters at a University there. It has been 4 years since I first started this blog, and I had no idea the impact it would have on my life as well as others when it first began, as a simple journal of my life as a new mother. In conclusion my final post will be a study and comparison to the great novel and movie classic 'Wizard of Oz'. Which also just so happens to be one of Elle-Girl's favorite movies. Enjoy, and thank you to those of you have followed along on this blog and shared some of our fondest memories of our family.

Somewhere over the rainbow,Way up high ,there's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.

When I first came upon this area where we live I felt like I had arrived home. I was a small town girl and needed a place with golden fields, back roads and neighbors that knew my name. I found that here. I followed the yellow brick road all through this new land.Did it seem too good to be true at times, sure. Were there bad apples along the way, of course. At first, I never imagined this would turn into the place where I would want to stay for good. It was a nice "for-now" sort of place. The goal seemed all the time to just get to Emerald City. To just get to that glimmering place where there would be no worries, or hard times, where life would be simpler and things would be easy. What I didn't expect to find along was friendships, the kind one only reads about in fiction.

Pardon me, this way is a very nice way,It's pleasant down that way, too.

I made friends, like the Scarecrow, that never knew the full capacity of what they were capable of. Friends that had been stuck in the same spot their whole lives and didn't know where they were going next, but was happy to walk with me in my journey if only to offer nothing but their companionship and an open mind. Its friends like this that were with us from the beginning and would follow us to the end that I will miss the most. They are the type of friends that would walk through fire for you, stand up for you when the rest of the world throws apples at you, and...at times...enjoy life's simple pleasures, like running through the poppies with you, even if it meant utter and complete exhaustion the next day.

Oh, you're the best friends anybody ever had. And it's funny, but I feel as if I'd known you all the time, but I couldn't have, could I?

The way that I was brought into this community, is really unbelievable. They took this young woman that they didn't even know, and gave her opportunities, and friendship, and love as if she was one of them all along. I have never met a community of people so eager to involve me in anything and everything. At first, I was hesitant, all along thinking the bottom was just going to fall out. That a house was going to fall out of the sky on top of me and end it all. But it didn't. Along the way I found more people coming out of everywhere, eager to link their arm in mine and sing me a song to carry me through to the next day. There were those like the Tin Man with hard, metal exteriors, who hadnt' felt or known love in some time, but on the inside I found them to be some of the most genuine and kindest person one could know. Even if they were a little rusty around the edges.

You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate impression that just because you run away you have no courage; you're confusing courage with wisdom
As I drew closer to the "Emerald City" to this goal, and ideal that we had been working toward, I began to realize that by reaching that goal it would mean I would have to say goodbye to all the friends I made along the way. I had been so swept up in this land of 'Oz' that I failed to notice how short the time had become. How quickly the sand was falling through the hour glass.The move to West Virginia was a tough decision for us to make. It would mean closing this chapter of our life, to begin what we feel is best for our family. David's goal is to teach on a collegiate level. To do that he needs a masters, as well as a doctorate. Therefore, we need to go where the best opportunities for him to achieve that is at. Even though, I have felt at times that leaving here, and all the connections and friendships I've made along the way , as well as our family could possibly be the hardest thing I've ever had to do, I do feel that in order for us to be where we want to be 10-20 yrs from now, that we would be silly not to take this opportunity while its here.

A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.

I began to realize that opportunities will not always be there, but home will be. In the Red River community, I have found home. It may be just two short years, it may be more, but when we finish what we have set out to do, this  is what I want to return to. These people have become my people, their land, my land, their family my family, their town, my town. I wish I had a crystal ball that I could look into and know just when and how that all will come to be, but I don't.

Dorothy: Goodbye, Tinman. Oh, don't cry! You'll rust so dreadfully. Here's your oil can. Tin Woodsman: Now I know I've got a heart, 'cause it's breaking... Dorothy: Goodbye, Lion. I know it isn't right, but I'm going to miss the way you used to hollar for help before you found your courage. Cowardly Lion: I never would've found it if it hadn't been for you... Dorothy: [to Scarecrow] I think I'm going to miss you most of all.

To my scatterbrain friends who have been there with me from the first time we've met, I'm going to miss you most of all. I couldn't forget you, even if I tried, and even then, I wouldn't want to. Thank you for taking me under your wing, showing me around, and making sure I went on my way safely and with courage. To the Red River community, there will never be a fall where I don't miss your tobacco barns, or a misty Tennessee morning covered in dew, I won't I must say miss your hot humid summers...much.



If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!

So its time to put on my little red heels and step forward onto the next yellow brick road, but rest assured I'll remember, There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.