August 22, 2015 marked the twelfth year I have resided in the O-H-I-O state. Why is that of any significance? Because it surpasses the number of years (11.25) that I lived in southern-central Pennsylvania. That's an exceptional milestone. If you recall my past blog posts, they mention how it took me nearly three of those 12 years to accept that my move to Ohio wasn't temporary. As each of those first three years ended, I would announce in the young people's meetings that we would be staying another year. Each of those was met with cheers and it made me feel good, but I never had complete comfort, because I was still hoping to go back to what I knew as home.
I haven't made any such announcement since 2006, but this year I wanted to and in a special way, but the opportunity never really presented itself. So, during a young adult bible study that I attend, there was a new guy who came. We were making casual conversation and he asked how we all knew each other. Mark mentioned that we all meet at the same church, but he made distinction that some grew up together and some came in from other places. I then took that opportunity to announce that this year marked the twelfth year we've lived in Ohio, but right before I could make the note of why twelve years was important, a "we win?" came from Hannah, knowing what I was about to say. I then explained that twelve years meant we lived longer in Ohio then Pennsylvania and another "We win!" was to be heard. Even though this wasn't the way I wanted to make this announcement, it felt really good because I was surrounded by people very near and dear to my heart and I have long been at peace to call Ohio home.
Since I never got the chance to say this how I really wanted to, I'll do it here in the next couple of paragraphs or so and who knows, 2015 hasn't been extinguished yet so maybe there'll be a live version.
Twelve years is a long time. But when you reach the age that I have, 12 years doesn't seem that long ago. Besides that milestone, I hit another. I turned 25 this year. A quarter of a century. Some people see that as just another year, but for me it hits closer because I've lost some friends who didn't reach this age. These milestones weren't easy to reach, but they weren't done alone. The Lord put a fantastic group of people in my life. These people shared in the highs and the lows, the nights we'll remember forever and a few we'd want to forget. But one thing is for sure. It doesn't matter if we're from different blood or united in Christ. Dominic Toretto emphasized this the best about those around him. "You're family." This is not limited to those in Cleveland, but those I've come to know well all over the USA since I came out here. In all honesty, that's the truth and I wouldn't trade it for the world. As we say goodbye to 2015 and I enter year 13 in 2016, here's to the past twelve and looking forward to the next twelve with you all. Family.
