I tend to have delusion of grandeur from time to time so I like to call my stages of life eras and today signals the end of quite a few eras in my life.
We are leaving for Indiana tonight, as many of you know, and with this move life will change quite a bit.
Friday will signal the end of my years of summer breaks as Monday I become an actual contributing member of society with a real career (though I guess teachers qualify for that as well and they still get summer breaks).
We are also heading back to the eastern time zone (though only by about 20 miles). I hate the eastern time zone. staying up until 1 AM is not as fun as it used to be and that's what you have to do if you want to see the NBA playoffs.
This is the second time we have moved from Utah to a location east of the Mississippi and you might think it would be very similar, however, there is one distinct difference in this move. When we moved to Pikeville we were moving from Salt Lake City. We both loved Salt Lake, but it wasn't home. Now we are leaving from Cedar City and Cedar City is home. I am nothing if not a Cedar City boy and Melissa has admitted that she is definately a Cedar City woman (as she didn't grow up in Cedar she can't have the distinction of a Cedar girl). We are all but certain that we will hightail it back to Cedar in 3 years and live out our years there.
Living in Cedar this past year has been nothing short of wonderful. For me there were so many benefits that I can't even begin to list them all.
It was absolutely wonderful to live in the same town with my older brother and his family. When I was a kid I used to love it when my dad got together with his brothers because they always seemed to have such a great time. They would laugh together and tell stories about when they were younger. They would joke with each other. They always seemed to enjoy everything they did together. I remember thinking that it would take a miracle for Bob and I to be that way because we used to fight so much (I was always an innocent victim back then). Well my brothers and I reached the point that I always wanted to get to some years ago (though I have a boat sitting on my patio out in Indiana that says things aren't as good as I thought, more on that in a future post) and it has been wonderful to be able to work and play and laugh with Bob and his family so frequently this past year. My brothers are my best friends (so are my sisters, but this isn't about Char and Becca now is it) and I am saddened to be leaving Cedar, but excited to be moving closer to Doug in Cleveland.
Of course no post about Cedar would be complete without mentioning my parents. They are the best parents/grandparents I could ever dream of and it has been a pleasure living near them again. I will miss the Sunday dinners, and the numerous evenings we spent together. I will also miss the many lunches at the clinic. I may never formally work with my dad (he plans to retire the day before I get to Cedar and I'm gratefull he is waiting that long), but over the past year I have spent many a lunch hour passing time with dad in his clinic. It was a nice bonus that they had catered lunches so many of those days, but being in the clinic with my father made me feel like a kid again going to work with dad. Of all the things I will miss about Cedar those lunch hours with dad will be at the top of the list and I think he enjoyed them a little bit too.
2 comments:
Good post Jake,
I am glad my job has not removed my from Southern Utah. I am sure time will go fast for you though and your family will be back soon.
Once again, a very good post. Thanks.
A few comments:
1. I agree with lunch meals with dad. I used to eat lunch with my dad when I worked on the Grounds crew at the college. I enjoyed those lunches.
2. I don't know how I feel about the eastern time zone. I grew up in the eastern time zone, but you don't know anything different when you are a kid. The first time that I realized that other parts of the country had different time zones was when we were travelling to reunions during the summer. During these trips I began to realize that I was allowed to watch more baseball on TV than normal.
3. Cedar City is a great place, and I have so many wonderful memories. But, one hesitation I have about moving back is that it won't be the same as it was when I was a kid. I fear disappointment. I am glad to hear that you have experienced a great reunion with your family in Cedar City.
4. Good luck in Indiana. Becca and I are selfishly happy that you are in Indiana. Now we have two families to stay with (for free, we hope) if we ever travel back east. I would love to see the old "stomping grounds" of northern Columbus. Time will tell if it happens.
5. If you need a place to stay as you travel back for a reunion or two, you are welcome to stay at our place.
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