I was born on a couch. My parents had planned to have a home birth but it didn't go as expected. They had been working with a midwife who lived out of town and we lived out of town in the other direction. They were sure that she would be able to arrive in time. Guess what? She didn't. When my mom went into labor they started calling. The midwife's phone was busy busy busy. This was in 1976 and so not many people had call waiting. She didn't.
After they finally got her on the phone, she took off to get there. She was stopped by a Highway Patrolman who did not believe she was on her way to deliver a baby. So my dad delivered me. Lucky for me, he had read a book. Until the day he died almost 2 years ago, he called me his little smurf. I had the cord wrapped around my neck three times and was blue.
The house that I was born in is 20 miles away from where I live now. I hated living here growing up. It was boring. Backwoods. We got all of the current trends late. It just seemed so podunk to be from Montana. I ran away from here and swore I would never come back. But then I did. And I fell in love.
It is amazing to me that I am blessed enough to live here. It is a safe place to raise my boys. I am secure here. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I look out my window every day and see the mountains, take a deep breath of the clean, crisp air and I feel liberated. The chains that I felt bound me when I was young are gone. When I'm hiking the trails and I reach the peak, I feel like I can touch heaven.
I have no illusions that my kids will enjoy being here as they get older. They are going to struggle with the same things I did. There still isn't anything for them to do. We still get the trends way after other places. But I hope that I can instill in them the love that I have for this State. That the smell the permeates our lungs after a spring rain will be as exhilarating to them as it is to me. That they feel blessed to live here.
I have pride in being a Native Montanan. And that's something I never thought I would say. I love this state.
Happy Love Thursday, everyone. Go here to read more!
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4 comments:
I had a cousin live briefly in Montana and I have always been amazed at the beauty in every photo she sent. You are truly blessed to be both somewhere you want to be and somewhere that is beautiful as well. Happy Love Thursday!
I am truly jealous of you being surrounded by mountains and such a beautiful place.
It's odd how sometimes we run so far and fast away from things that when we finally embrace them, we realize how much we actually loved them.
Make sense?
I grew up in a small town in IL and hated it, now I live in the burbs of Chicago. Guess what? I want to move back to that small town someday, friends and family are still there. It is amazing how much you realize how good you had it in a small town. I just wish IL had mountains, then I would be in HEAVEN
Hi Jessie, I'm your Blog. Do you remember me?
Update, foo!
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