Empowered

I still miss Ohio.
I try not to think about it much.  It makes me sad.
Not because life here is horrible, because it is great.  (and lets face it I could not have survived the last 7 months without my mom and dad's help)  We are blessed with family and friends and opportunities we may otherwise not have had, but I still sometimes miss Ohio.
We really grew there.  We really grew together as a family and learned to rely on one another and how to survive on our own.
We learned the true meaning of a ward family and grew to love the members of our congregation.
We learned how to be poor and still be happy, really happy.
We learned the true meaning of being lonely and sad.  But on the flip side we learned how to make friends, really good friends, and then what it meant to feel fulfilled and truly happy.
We learned how to sacrifice.
We learned how to be a cohesive unit, a strong family.
And Ruby learned to climb trees.

I remember the day she learned to climb a tree.  I coached her along a bit but ultimately made her do it herself- and get down herself.  And she did.  I could feel the excitement within her.  That feeling of empowerment.  That she could do anything and was on top of the world.  It is an experience I want her to have everyday.  I want her to feel empowered every day-  like she can conquer the world and do any righteous thing that she desires.  It was within the same week that I ran my first 5 miles.  I had been running 3 miles consistently and really wanted to push myself- so I did.  I felt that same sense of empowerment- I really could do anything.  I was in  charge of my physical body, not the other way around.  I could train and run and do whatever I wanted.  I could push myself and achieve my goals.
I guess that is why I am missing Ohio- I associate those feelings with our time there.  We all learned a great deal about ourselves.  Ruby comments on how she misses our trees.  I do too.
But I also know that we will find more trees to climb here, more things to conquer and overcome, other ways to feel empowered.
Life is pretty consistent that way.
But I will forever miss Ohio, the friends that we made there, the fun times that we had there, and the trees in our backyard.