7 Lessons I Learned by Moving Approximately 800 Miles Away from Home
‘I am moving to Fort Washington, Maryland.’
I made this declaration to my parents thirty-four years ago this month after returning home to Springfield, Illinois, from visiting my friends in Fort Washington, Maryland, and interviewing for jobs in Washington, D.C.
I was excited to have secured a job as a clerk-typist at an insurance company.
Two good friends of mine, who were married at the time, extended the invitation for my daughter and me to live with them and embark on a new chapter in our lives.
So, I seized the opportunity.
I shared my plans with my parents while making serious eye contact and closely watching their body language.
The shock on their faces is forever sketched in my mind.
You see, I was twenty-one years old with a three-year-old daughter and more than ready to move away from my hometown to meet new people, broaden my horizons, and experience new adventures.
My parents, daughter’s father, and his family all thought I had fallen and bumped my head and had a concussion.
After all, at that time my daughter was the only grandchild on both sides so moving with her far away did not sit…
