It's been bought to my attention that
2012 is a leap year. Which got me thinking. Yes, those who know me
can stop laughing, you know who you are!
When you say it's leap year most
people will think that is the day women can ask men to marry them. At
least that is what I was bought up to think.
These days I think of someone taking a
leap in faith and trusting that the powers that be, whichever you may
worship, will help and protect you.
My husband used to be a librarian, he
lost his job and was working as a temp in different libraries in the
state we lived at the time. Then 9-11 happened. Unfortunately, when
people start cutting back for some insane reason libraries are the
place they cut first. He ended up working in Barnes and Noble but the
salary was not great. I had a good job but you can't live in New
Jersey on a salary and a half. Not when your rent is $1000/month.
A friend and her husband had moved to
Arizona and had been trying to convince us to join them. They had
retreated with their campaign for a while but started again when my
husband lost his job. I kept saying I would think about it. Then
winter settled in with all it's glory. It was one of the worst
winters up to that time. We had to shovel snow it seemed like every
day. I fell twice and ended up with cortisone shots in my knees and
elbow. One day, when a usually 20 minute drive took 90 minutes
because of the snow and ice, I had enough. I said to my husband,
"Lets do this!"
Now you have to understand that we
were not spring chickens. I was 49 and my husband 47.
Needless to say our family and some of
our friends thought we were insane. All I know is once we made the
decision to move, everything fell into place. The only thing I
requested was to wait until the birth of my youngest brother's first
child. We left mid-May and took our time driving cross country. I
saw whole areas of the country I thought I would never see. We
stopped to see friends along the way. Memorial day weekend we arrived
at our destination. We had planned to stay in a motel one more
night but at that point I was tired of driving and just wanted to get
there.
I remember as we drove into New Mexico
and I looked at those wonderful mountains I turned to my husband and
said, "I'm home". That feeling lasted into the next state
and on to our destination. It remains that way even today eight
years later. Oh yea, after writing and submitting for 12 years, I
sold my first book in 2003. Six months after arriving here. We took a
leap of faith and we are both so glad we did.
