“Everyone else had seemed to have their future figured out, except for me, I had no idea what direction I wanted to go. I was a junior in college, living in this small, podunk town. So many of my friends were finishing school and moving away. It was almost like a diaspora. They couldn’t wait to get out of there, move to the...
During the Spring semester in my fourth year of college I got to study abroad in Italy, which was awesome. There were about 20 of us from the architecture program packed into two apartments. Boys on one side, girls on the other. Even though we were really close to each other in this confined space, I felt alone. I guess just...
When I was 20 years old I was lucky enough to study for a semester in Florence ,Italy. This would be the biggest adventure of my life. I was looking forward to spending time with 25 other students, traveling on weekends & learning about cultures half a world away from my home in Tennessee. But I quickly realized that this wasn’t...
I wasn’t a troubled kid, but I was always in trouble. It wasn’t that I was out of control, I just had a lot of energy that I didn’t know what to do with. I was paddled in kindergarten so many times for just being like, myself. And it didn’t change my behavior. It just sucked for 20 minutes, then my nature would...
This vacation was quite different from others I had taken. It was just me and my very best friend. We rented a van, threw a mattress in the back, and drove through Sweden and Norway for three and a half weeks. During our other trips we’d backpack, stay in hostels, and go into different cities spending time with all...
Our relationship had been bad for a long time. No matter what I tried, she just wouldn’t respond. So I decided to draw a line in the sand. I suggested that we separate while we figure this out. I had made a promise and intended to keep it, but she decided that we needed to get divorced. The hardest part was watching my two kids try...
“It was a sink or swim moment in my life, I felt like this was gonna make me or break me, and I damn sure wasn’t gonna let it break me. When I was 21 my mom died of cancer. Before she passed away she told me ‘you gotta keep going, because life goes on’. Those were the three hardest words I’ve ever heard, life goes on...
When I first moved to Birmingham one of my friends introduced us. Three months later we were married. 45 years later, my dear husband passed way. You can imagine how difficult it was for me. He was my life, and I felt lost without him. About a year later I went to a country music festival in Nashville. I didn’t really know that...
One of things I like most about the Avett Brothers is that their lyrics really hit me, hit me in a way that sometimes reveal emotions that I don’t even realize are affecting me. They put into words what I can’t. They change up the set list for every show so you never know what to expect. At the end of 2018 I saw them in...
With everything that’s been going on this year; coronavirus, rioting, murder hornets, political divide, and so many people struggling. I keep think of that song by REM, It’s the End of the World as We Know It. But it’s the next line that I really love, “and I feel fine”. I mean there’s always gonna be...