3,571 Miles

                Twenty years ago, my semi-newlywed parents packed up their 1995 Ford Tempo and drove 3,571 miles to their new home in Holbrook, Arizona. When my parents and brother made the long journey across the country, they left behind all of our family. All my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins lived in New York or down in Georgia.  The closest family they now had was my great-aunt and great-uncle and their children in Safford, Arizona.

                Holbrook, Arizona is the only home I have ever known, and I absolutely adore it! Holbrook has the most beautiful blue sky that can be seen for miles, and when the sun gets ready to say goodnight, it paints the most incredible sunset. Rocks, dirt, and weeds can be seen around every corner, but even those have their own divine beauty. Over the past eighteen years, I have fallen in love with this little town and its citizens.

               I have the most wonderful memories growing up in The Brook. My dad loved to take me and my siblings hiking. We spent hours on a little mesa behind my house. We named it Jedi Mountain, and still call it that today. We would always play wiffle ball, Turkey*, and jump on our trampoline. I could not even begin to describe how amazing my childhood was with my little family of five.

                Most of my childhood memories include my childhood best friend, Savana Shumway. I have fond memories of going to her house and having the most incredible adventures. I was always a bit jealous of her, or maybe more than a bit. It seemed as though Savana always had family over, and she has a big family! She has twice as many siblings as I do, and about fifty cousins. Her grandparents lived in town, and we often spent time over at their house. If we were not with her grandparents, we were with at least some of her forty-something cousins. As much as I loved spending time with her family, it always made me jealous. If I wanted to see my grandparents I would have to spend days in a car. I am in no way complaining. I loved the road trips I took with my family of five to visit my family across the country and I loved when they came to visit us. I just always wished they lived closer.

                As the years have passed, I have often thought the same thing. I wish my family lived closer. Tonight at a family dinner at the Demuth’s house, I realized that my family does live close. Over the past twenty years, my family has made a new family here in Holbrook. As I look at the town, and the families here, I cannot help but think everyone here has become my family. I could not even begin to list all the people who have influenced me for the better here in happy Holbrook. I feel as though I have hundreds of family members.

               My Nana, the most wonderful woman I have ever met whom I miss dearly, once told me that I’ll never run out of love. I am so glad that is true. It is wonderful having so many people here to love, and I cannot wait for my heart to grow even more as I go throughout my life. My time in Holbrook is coming to an end, and as much as I cannot wait to leave, it will always be my hometown. Wherever I go, I know that I will have countless family members back home, where the sky is blue for miles, and the sunset is incredible.

*Turkey- a game where my dad would stand in the living room with a nerf gun while, in the hallway, my brother, sister, and I would stand, anxiously waiting for my dad to call, “Turkey! Turkey! Turkey!” When he would do so, the three of us would go running through an opening at the end of the hallway where my dad would shoot us with the nerf gun. Then he would take us, “gut” us, “cook” us, and have Thanksgiving dinner.