Happy New Year!

I hope that 2009 is off to a great start for all of you. These first few days have been wonderful for me- a lot of sleeping and spending time with family and friends- two activities that I frequently long for. However I found out today that all of this time off will becoming to a sudden close as I report back on Thursday. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road, but there are many things that I will miss.

As 2009 begins, I cannot help but look back at 2008. I have always been a person that looks back (perhaps too much so) to see how my journey has unfolded thus far. The beginning of 2008 found me applying to dozens of jobs and trying to figure out what would happen to me when the ForeFront Tour ended in May. I was soon back on the road and struggling to continue to do my job with excellence, apply for future positions, and enjoy this once in a lifetime trip I had been given. Eventually I realized that I needed to explore my surroundings and savor every moment so I toned down the job hunt. In March, I turned 23- an age I had been looking forward to for quite some time. I’m not really sure why 23 was the age I longed for. I think that, to me, 23 was the age when true adult life really began. I had graduated from college and had some time to get used to that so now it was time to be a “grown-up.” Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen.

April and May saw much more traveling including my first trip to the Giant Redwoods of Northern California in early May. I remember reading about the Redwoods in school and seeing pictures of them and being a fairly outdoorsy person myself, I was excited to have an activity on tour that didn’t involve a mall. On the first day in the Redwoods, we drove by many on our way to the hotel. We had set aside the entire next day for exploring, so we were just trying to get to our destination and find somewhere to eat dinner. We soon accomplished both goals and shortly after we walked into the restaurant, my phone rang. It was about 8 o’clock in California so it was midnight back in Pennsylvania. Due to the time, I knew that it had to be my dad calling me from work. I answered and he asked me where I was, what time it was, how I was, etc. I answered his questions and told him about the Redwoods I had seen so far. Then I asked him how work was. He replied, “Better than things at home.” I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that but I assumed that my mom was stressed about something thereby making him stressed as well. Instead, he proceeded to tell me about an accident he had been involved in only a few hours before. He had been helping a family member with some tree maintenance and while they were finishing up he was nearly run over by a tractor. Now, I’m not talking about jumping out of the way of a Cub Cadet, this was a large farm tractor that was backing up to hook on to a trailer. My dad was waiting at the trailer when the tractor accelerated and came up his leg the whole way to his chest. As he was recounting it to me, he said he was screaming and he thought it was the end and all he wanted to do was see my mom one more time. Finally the tractor stopped and moved forward to free him and he asked for the phone to call my mom to come get him. The last time I had seen my dad was when I was pulling out of my driveway to return to Pittsburgh after my Easter break a month prior. That was almost the last time I ever saw my dad.

I got off the phone that night and all I wanted to do was go home. I was glad he called, I like to know what’s going on at home, and I would much rather he tell me right away then wait until I get home and say, “Oh, by the way, I was almost killed while you were on the road.” But that night was probably the hardest for me on the road, because I just wanted to go home and give my dad a hug. That same night, I filled out an application for the travel team for the upcoming year. Talk about torn! I liked being on the road, but it guarantees that you won’t be able to see people whenever you want to see them. I decided to just apply and leave it in God’s hands.

The middle of May couldn’t come soon enough. I was finally back home and for a few months even! I was working full-time and spending time with my family in the evenings. Summer 2008 was a summer of weddings- 2 of which I was directly involved in. My big adventure for the summer was going to Chicago for a week to study at Second City. I’ve already written an extensive post about that, so you can look there for more info. This trip was significant in a variety of ways. First off, I was going by myself. This was quite a change from being on tour where they don’t even like it if you go to the bathroom by yourself. Nonetheless, I drove there by myself, I paid for the trip myself, I had a huge hotel room all to myself, I rode the L all by myself, and explored the city by myself. For most 23 year olds, this would not be a huge milestone, but it was for this one from a small town still sleeping in the same room she was put in when she was brought home from the hospital. This trip was also significant, because it was the culmination of lifelong dream. My parents always told me I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. Because of that, I always had and still do dream big, but didn’t know what it felt like to achieve those dreams until that week.

While I was still working on my trip, and we were all still reeling from the scare with my dad, it was my mom’s turn to scare us. When she was at the doctor, they thought they had found something. She was scheduled for a biopsy, but the doctors seemed to think that the results would not be good. It seemed that a cancer diagnosis was in the near future. My parents told me about this, but I didn’t really think too much about it. I prayed about it, but I tried not to think about. After all, we really didn’t know anything yet. If a meteorologist can’t get his stuff right, all of the other ologists probably have a hard time too. My parents went to the hospital the day my mom was scheduled for the biopsy. Her doctor looked at the scans, whispered to others in the room, looked some more and eventually told my mom that she could go. They didn’t know what they had seen before, but they knew what they were seeing now and it wasn’t cancer. My parents left the hospital in amazement, relief, and tears that day.

August saw yet another return to the road for me as I embarked on my second tour. This fall kept me fairly close to home and I returned home about 4 or 5 times over the past few months. This spring appears to be a different story as I will be traveling further and for longer durations.

Christmas and New Years has been a great time to look over the past year. I am so blessed and so grateful. This was a Christmas that almost wasn’t. In the past year, God spared both my parent’s lives and I’m eternally grateful. Goodbyes have always been hard for me as I am a perfect example of a homebody, but the seem to be getting harder. I know that my parents have raised me to follow my dreams and succeed in whatever I’m called to do. Unfortunately that frequently takes me far away and may one day cause me to relocate a great distance from my family. Whether that be the case or not, my success is owed to my parents. They are extremely hard working and loving people that have spent a lot of time and money to ensure that I will be too.

Mom and Dad, I want you to know that all of my success whether in high school, at Grove City, at SRT, Second City or anywhere else is a tribute to the two of you. You chose to love a kid that talked back to you, frequently drove you crazy, and spends way more time making mistakes than she does cleaning her room or any other part of the house. Thank you both for your unwavering love and support. And please be careful this year- I want to write another one of these next year. Now stop crying, you’re getting the keyboard all wet.