~in the red dirt of this land~

Next week Mike and I will return to the mountains of southwestern Colorado to see our friends that we left behind when we moved to Texas last summer.  It's been over a year now that we were able to be with them and they have surely been missed by us.  To actually get the chance to revisit the old places that we used to love to frequent is really a blessing.  Like two little kids waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, both of us are anxious to get there.

Even though Mike lived in Colorado for over 2 decades, my time there was limited to only 2 years.  My first 3 months were pretty miserable as I fought a daily battle with extreme homesickness, depression, and a strong desire to give up and return to Kansas.  A very caring and understanding husband and a teaching position up the road from our home in Montrose helped me to finally get used to life in the San Juan Mountains.  As time went on, not only did I survive but I thrived as well.

For that, I will always be grateful.

We won't be there for more than a few days but in that short span of time there are many things that we hope to see and friends that we plan to reconnect with.  Especially, I am hoping to see some of my former students from my two years there and to give them the biggest hug ever.  My heart is so happy,  just thinking about it!

When I stop and remember my first 3 painful months there in the summer of 2013, I realize that being homesick for Kansas was only a small part of the problem.  I was floundering there as I tried to find my place and a way to carve out my own niche in a new life.  I longed for whatever the heck normalcy used to be, for friends to talk to, for anything that would make me feel like everything was going to be ok.  It took some time but I made it.

The places that we want to see back in our old home are the things that became a regular part of life for me during my time there.  I want to go to the top of the Grand Mesa once again and see the beautiful sight that I witnessed each day as I drove to school at Olathe.  Mike and I want to go to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park once again.  It was the place that he took me to visit on the very first day that I went there to meet up with him in January of 2013.  Both of us love shopping at thrift stores and there is a great one on Main Street in Montrose that we want to stop by before we leave.  Just to go by our old house out on Locust Road and see the million dollar view that we always had will be such a treat to remember.  It will seem kind of strange and kind of magical all at the same time.

When it is time to go home back to Texas, we are going to take the same route that I always did as I traveled back and forth from Kansas to Colorado.  We will love the drive through Arrowhead Canyon and over the top of old Monarch Pass.  There's a great little place in Canyon City to stop and eat a bite of lunch.  We always went there and I'm sure we will try it out once again.  By the time we get to Pueblo, we will turn south and head towards home.  I can almost drive it with my eyes closed but don't worry.  

I won't.

Although I love Texas and our new life here, I have to admit that I also grew to love my adopted state of Colorado.  The sunrises and sunsets were beyond compare, the mountains' majesty was a sight to behold, and it seemed like every day brought the endless parade of wildlife through our very own front yard.  Not sure you could replicate that kind of beauty anywhere else, even if you tried.

I'm glad I stuck it out in Colorado even during those times when I thought that moving there was the craziest thing I had ever done.  It would have been easy to give up and go home but I did not.  Thankfully I held on until God's plan for my being there was made known to me.  The folks of the little elementary school in Olathe, Colorado came to our rescue.  They took both Mike and I in and wrapped their arms around us in friendship and love.  For saving us, we can never thank them enough.  My two years with them were meant to be.

God has been good to us and provided us with yet another wonderful community to live and work in.   Burkburnett, Texas is our home now and we accept the fact that it doesn't look anything like Colorado.  After all, it was never meant to.  We are happy for the chance to go back to our old home next week for a visit but when our time is through, we know that it will be time to return to our new home, a place we'd like to consider our forever one.

Wichita County, Texas.
We belong here now.
The Renfro name is written in the red dirt of this good land.

~the view from the top of Cerro Summit near our old home in Montrose, Colorado~