11.12.2011

Turning a New Leaf...Part One


As I mentioned at the end of my previous post (so long ago) a lot of big things have happened in my life over the last 2 months. All really awesome, great, scary, different things! So much that I am going to split it up into two different posts otherwise this will turn from a blog into a novel!

So first...my mom moved to Arizona!
I may have mentioned it here once before but pretty much my whole life all I've ever heard from my mom has been "I loved training horses. I wish I could still work with horses. When I win the lottery, I'm buying a horse farm." etc.

Flash back to before I was born and she was a kid, she always had horses and worked on horse farms.
She lived in Arizona for a few years training horses but eventually came back to Jersey.
Her and my dad met while both working on a horse farm.
My mom found out she was pregnant with me because she fell off a horse and had to go to the hospital.

So needless to say, horses are a ginormous part of my mom's life. I've gone riding quite a few times, in Colorado, Tennessee, Jersey, PA, all over the place. It really is wonderful and horses are beautiful, gentle animals. I can see why people love them. It's also really fun to pretend to be a cowboy while riding LOL However, I am allergic...not to the horses themselves (I recently found out and was shocked about because anything else with fur or feathers I'm allergic to). Everything else around the horses, the hay, the other animals, the fields they live in, I'm allergic to all that and it sucks!
Actually here is a pic of me from this past Labor Day when a bunch of my family went riding together...I made that face in like half the pictures! Oh and I'm not that short, he's a clydesdale!



Anyway, my mom and her boyfriend of 13 years broke up. It was shitty so I won't get into the grimey details. My sister, her sisters and friends...we all pushed her to finally make the move out to AZ. She has gone on vacation the last few years out there to a ranch and made some friends. She was even offered a job as a massage therapist at one of the dude ranches for people on vacation. After much deliberation and what I imagine had to be one of the hardest decisions she ever made, she went. My sister drove out with her (which I will forever be jealous of) and she's been there for about 2 months now.

I miss her SO much!!! I probably mentioned it another time but my mom also worked at the same place as me and I got so used to seeing her everyday. We've been texting and talking on the phone a lot and she's been sending me pics of her new apartment. Of road runners and lizards and cacti and just all the beauty of this new part of her life. I am so incredibly proud of her. It just proves that it is NEVER too late to do what you love in life. It must be so scary for her to be by herself making this drastic change. I told her though, Jessie and I don't "need" her right now. We're grown and live on our own. We aren't getting married or having babies. Right now is the perfect time for her to go. Plus...if she hates it, she can always come home. But she will never have to regret not going or constantly having those nagging "what if..." or "I wish..." thoughts.

She is coming home for Christmas which I'm really happy about. It's just finally starting to sink in that I can't just hop in the car and be at my moms house in less than 30 minutes, or give her a book I think she'd like when I see her at work. I can't ask if I can come over to borrow her printer or if I can store something in the attic because it won't fit in my apartment. I do think that not seeing her on Chrismas would have been exceptionally hard though.

The word 'proud' doesn't really even describe how I feel about her right now. The last few years my mom has dealt with a lot of stuff and put a lot of people before herself.. First there was my accident and she had to help me A LOT, then my Nana (her mom) got really sick and passed away, her boyfriend's father also got sick and passed away, then my Uncle had some struggles of his own that my mom has helped him with. It's just time that she lives her life for herself, after all...it's the only one she's got.

I love my mother to pieces and I miss her so much but I am so glad that she made this giant move in her life!!!


It has inspired me greatly which is what Part Two will be all about...


Jamie

2 comments:

Monster said...

This is a great post (tehe I see my dad's shoulder). I REALLY loved that horse back riding trip.

I'm really glad your mom went as well, I was so very excited for her when I heard she was moving out there. And like you said, she can always move back if things don't work out. Thank you for reminding me of how much she's had to do for others in the past few years, it's def been some challenging times, she deserves this.

PS - excited to see your next post! :3

Jamie said...

Actually it was on the car ride TO that riding trip that Jessie and I basically told her she has to go and about not "needing" her now and she can always come home!