Step 1

This is all in hindsight. It's 120/40, you know.

I have grown to known Jackson, MS, in my three or so years living there, and I won't have fond memories of this place. After Josh left, I... I don't know... grew restless, no... paranoid. Every squeak felt ominous. And I would stupidly watch the news and be scared silly of reports of murders and burglaries, all much too close to home.

I had decided before Josh had left that I was not staying in Jackson alone. It was too much. For one, I couldn't afford it. No one was hiring [me], and Josh didn't have a job in California yet. I would move back to my old hometown, well, more like home community. The biggest decision was whether to do it before or after Christmas. Of course, one night staring at the ceiling listening to sirens convinced me that it was going to be before.

The Hardest Thing

My husband finally announced the official date that he is leaving for San Jose, California - November 30. Ah, November 30. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

I'll have to admit that my apprehension is warring with my excitement. I have lived in Mississippi for about 27 years now, and this is the only home I have known. I find it hard to come up with reasons to like Mississippi, but I still find excuses to stay. We have small children. We don't have jobs lined up in California. Moving all of our accumulated junk will be expensive. I have no family that lives close to San Jose. The beat goes on.