If you would have asked me a year ago where I was going to school for the next 3 years, it would be Oak Ridge, what house I lived in, the one across the street from my bestfriend, the car I would be driving soon, my mothers silver honda accord. Everything had a place & a plan, I never thought my world would have changed this much so dang fast. This crazy trip all started a while ago when my mom went to Chennai, India for a week just to help out. At the time it was nothing more.. Just a week to help train a team that was struggling. She was excited about the opportunity it brought but would never have imagined living there.. Until the week she got back, her boss, Dennis, sent her an email saying she had done a tremendous job and the team improved so much a position was CREATED just for her! Of course she had seen the city & environment and simply blew it off because, INDIA, thats just crazy right? She never responded to the email because at work, she was very busy and put it aside with other emails she would cover later. A couple nights after that she woke up & knew. She knew that it was God's plan for us & she put his faith in him and here we are!! After that she talked to me, (well, at least I think so...) and I said I was open to internationally traveling for a while because my dream has always been to travel the world as either a missionary doctor or a missionary teacher and I knew that the opportunity to travel at my age and experience a new culture and a new world was a once in a lifetime chance and the experience would be amazing, so I said I would hear her out. We didn't talk about it for a while after that but it was still in the back of my mind. (My mom swears that I read her emails and found out, but I didn't.) Anyways, after a while I remember I was hanging out with Olivya (bestfriend & neighbor) at her grandmas house, creeping on people on Facebook, when I got a text from my mom saying come home. So I walked across the street, already planning out what I was going to say to get more time to hang out with my friends. As I walked in I saw Michael (mom's boyfriend) and my mom sitting down at the kitchen table, quiet. I knew something was up but I didn't really want to know what that "something" was. So I acted like I didn't notice. I don't remember much but I remember arguing for a second (like normal) then sitting down at the table and my mom telling me that her and I were going to move the Chennai, India. I was shocked. It hadn't been brought up in forever & now all of the sudden, I'm moving. I asked if I could go across the street and tell Olivya so she let me. I called her on my way out the door and told her to meet me in the front yard, she came out of her grandmas house and when I saw her, tears just flooded. I told her it was official and I was moving to India. We both just hugged each other and cried for a few minutes, standing there, in the front yard. That night was hard, I texted most of my closest friends and told them to find me tomorrow at school because I had news and I wanted to tell them in person. So I went to school the next day and I swore it felt like I cried all day. I never realized how much telling the people I tell everything to would be so hard. A couple weeks after that we had a moving time frame, the second week of July... It came WAY sooner than anyone expected. I spent my whole summer not traveling anywhere but instead, hanging out with my friends as much as possible, and going to every church event so I would have all the time available with everyone. Throughout the summer it didn't feel real, until I got the date I was leaving. July 10th. I dreaded that day so much. I never wanted it to come. After a long two weeks of packing up my house, leaving it hurt so much. That was the house I grew up in, no where else did I ever call home. I lived for the last 4 or 5 days in my grandmas house with her and my grandpa. I enjoyed tons of last 'American' meals and ate out A LOT. (probably wasnt the best choice but it was good.(: ) When THAT DAY finally rolled around it was terrible. Waking up and getting everyone to my grandmas took forever but here's how that day went:
I woke up terrified, thinking to myself, How am I supposed to do this? Can I deal with my mom for two years? What am I gonna do without my bestfriends? What if I don't like it? What if I don't make any friends? And the thoughts just came flooding in, taking over my head. I checked my iPod, a new message from another amazing friend, Meghan (other bff.(: ) It was SO long and was basically reassuring me that everything was going to be okay, and that her and Olivya would visit me next year. She doesn't know this, but I NEEDED that so bad. And it meant so much. So thanks Meggie.(: A little later my grandma took me to Denny's because that was to be my LAST meal in America, so I had red, white, and blue, USA pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. It was so good! While there I spent time with her and my baby cousin Kate. When I arrived back to her house Nicole and Stacy (two amazing girls from church who are now in college and are SO sweet.<3) said they were on their way with brownies for my trip. Yumm! When they showed up it was a heartfelt goodbye complete with tears & all. These girls meant so much to me and were such an inspiration in my life so watching them drive off was super hard. A little while later my bestfriends arrived, Olivya, Meghan, Angela, Stina, & Ella. They hung out at my grandmas house with me until my mom arrived and we had last little talks about random things. Then my mom showed up, she rode with Rhonda, Michael, & Dynamo, My grandma with baby Kate, & I rode with Olivya & family.(: When we got to the airport everything was rushed, the lady at the counter was so slow and gave US a standby ticket because SHE was late. As we ran to security giving hugs and saying goodbye's was probably the worst part of that day. I told everyone I loved them and gave hugs, of course balling. Then (still crying!) We went through security really fast. Once we made it through we had to go up the escalator, as we were going up I looked down and over & saw everyone that meant everything to me crying, waving goodbye one last time. I again, started crying even more. Me leaving them was something I never thought would happen ever. And honestly, that was the hardest thing I ever did. We ran through the airport trying to find our plane and when we finally found it, sat there and watched everyone else get on. So we went to the counter & the lady pointed at us and said, "These two standby are the last ones, no more. Even if they have a ticket" At that exact moment other guests were coming to the counter saying sorry they were late, could they get on. She said no. The seats were ours, Barely. It was a God thing. We took 2 ten hour flights and finally made it in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was crazy. I have been in India for almost a week now and I knew on the first day, I was supposed to be here. It is very dirty and filled with poverty. God called me to do something special, he wants me to work with orphans. I don't know how that came into my heart or mind, but I saw some kids on the way to the hotel the first night at 3am that were on the street, sleeping, alone, & I just knew. That's why I am here.
