This week we FINALLY made it back to Colorado. It doesn’t seem like that long since we were last here, but in reality it’s been 15 months since the last time my feet were on Colorado soil and the longest I’ve ever been away. (I’m not a huge fan of this new trend of each visit getting farther and farther between, last time was the first time I’d ever been away for longer than a year and just after my Gran’ma passed away).
It’s amazing how much has changed. Of course, we’ve added another little guy to our family but Doodle was just over a year last time we visited and we had just started homeschooling (that trip was when we went our Denver Dinosaur learning adventure).
And new babies are everywhere in my life! This sweet mommy, who is a dear friend and welcomed her first daughter a month before I had Doodle, now also has an almost one-year-old. I missed her baby girl’s entire first year!
I have friends all over town who just had babies (like within the past week) or who are due any day who I never even got see during their entire 9-month pregnancies.
My tiny cousin who was only 8 years old when I first moved away from Colorado is now bigger than me and finishing up his senior year of college, ready to take on the world! And my sister is getting married in the spring.
A lot has certainly changed in the past but it also feels extremely familiar.
As we flew in over the Colorado plains, I felt oddly as ease, peering down on the patchworked fields. As I spotted the mountains, gleaming white on top, my heart skipped a beat as it has the many times I’ve returned since leaving home over 13 years ago.
We pulled into the driveway of my childhood home, where I spent my life from age 5 to 18, the grass covered in leaves. My head began racing with excitement for my kids who have never jumped into a leaf pile.
It’s only been two days and I’ve already seen many of my friends and all of my local family. I am quickly filling up our remaining days on my calendar with more meet-ups with friends.
I feel like I belong when I’m back here. I feel like there is a place for me and I fit in. I feel at ease and surrounded by love. I feel so at home here.
