A Carolina Anniversary

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the day we left Texas for South Carolina, where my husband would spend the next four years attending seminary. We'd stayed up until three in the morning packing, and finished loading everything during the morning hours. Minutes before noon, we left.

Though my daughters were grown, I felt like the worst kind of parent. Children are supposed to leave the nest, not the mother the children. Compounding my guilt was anxiety at having to drive our Durango and an attached trailer across country by myself (my husband, Kelley, was driving a 24-foot UHaul and a trailer with my Hyundai). The thought of that, and particularly of driving through Atlanta terrified me.

But God was gracious. The day after we left, Tropical Storm Bill hit the gulf coast, and rain blanketed the south for days. The fastest we could drive was 55 mph and we rarely made it up to that speed. Traffic crawled through Atlanta. Some were probably cursing the delays. I was thanking God.

At Pearson Falls
God was also gracious in supplying Kelley with a part-time job within a week of our arrival. I started working at the seminary a few months later. 

When we weren't working and Kelley wasn't studying, we explored the Carolinas. As it turned out, we had a passion for the outdoors that went unnoticed during our years living in large cities. We could not get enough of the mountains, the trails, the views, the Lowcountry, Savannah, and the history. A passion I poured into words when I realized I had time to make my literary dreams come true (laughing here :) and I started writing.

We spent four years, four months, and four days in the Upstate. Time well spent, even though I missed my kidlets. I cannot believe we left it nearly six years ago, and I can't believe it's been ten years. Time passes far too quickly.