...and we're still here

Four and a half years ago we left our home in Austin - the home in which my son was born - and moved to this pitstop of a town between Dallas and Austin. We thought it would be an idyllic setting to move into the house I grew up in, take over the front part, start our lives over with BU and Waco. My daughter left her Sunflower room with sunflowers, rainbows, clouds and other happy images painted on the wall. My son, still a baby at the time, left his blue room only to be squished into the same bedroom with his sister for the next five years. Now we have our own home, same bedroom setup, though, and although we didn't intend for this to happen, our children are growing up in Waco. It's sort of passed me by in a sense because all this time I'm thinking "it's only temporary...moving soon...it's almost over" while they've been growing, learning, experiencing, actually enjoying this town. It's wonderful for them: a 400-acre park, an ever-expanding zoo, the great museums, learning about Anatomy and Physiology when their mother drags them to class with her, and hanging around with college kids when Dad drags them along with him. What small children wouldn't be happy here with all this and grandparents five minutes away?

The best part about being here is that my children are happy and probably better for it. I, on the other hand, am a different chapter in this book, something carrying the possible title of "Are we there yet?" Enough character-building already. However, I have to admit that Waco has its advantages for me, too... lots of Mexican food, a kick-ass Thai restaurant, zero (yes, zero) traffic, completely empty public attractions if you go early enough, a pub full of hippies, a Target store that opens at 8am, and two institutions of higher education full of potential kindred spirits. Also, this region of Texas has great bio-diversity, two major river corridors, abundant bat acivity, and is, overall, a very pretty part of the state.

The downsides carry a little more weight, in my opinion...no job growth for me (I'm making as much money as I can and it's still not enough), embarrassingly bad schools, baggage from the first 17 years I spent here (count that about 50 times in your calculations), trash on almost every corner, and a pitiful socio-economic imbalance. There also happens to a dearth of midwives in the area.

BUT...at this very moment, as I prepare to educate a roomful of students, most of which exceed me in age and experiences, I am grateful to have something to do that seems important and makes a small difference to members of my community. "It's not where you are in life, it's what you do". Nice sentiment shared especially by people like who are not where they want to be. I try to live more in the present now than looking to the future. I should be more aware of my children's advancing childhoods and take my opportunities as a young mother to have fun (while they still like me). I truly think that when this is all over, I might (dare I say) actually miss being here.