Sunny San Diego

Part I
Tomorrow I leave for sunny San Diego for five days. I am very excited to take this trip to California but even more excited to see my friend, Jodi. I met Jodi when I was in high school and we both worked at the same grocery store part-time. Jodi lived in a neighboring town and I had remembered seeing her as a cheerleader at some of our rival games. She was beautiful and outgoing and her personality was electric. I'll admit to being a bit intimidated by her but we hit it off and became the best of friends. The years that followed we stayed close while I was in college. Jodi moved to St. Louis and then Columbia but we still talked whenever we could. Then six months after college, when I still didn't have a job, I decided to make a move. It was the hardest decision of my life. Even while in college, I commuted to and from and lived at home. Somewhere along the way, I realized that in order to be the person I wanted to be, I needed to step outside of myself and make a move in order to find something better. I moved to Columbia and moved in with Jodi and her son, Brendon. I spent the first two months of my life in Columbia with them and hanging out with her at every possible free moment. It only took me a little over a month to land my dream job and I felt like she was there for me throughout so much transition. Leaving home for the first time and moving away, being depressed because I didn't have a job, finding the perfect job and, finally, settling in to adulthood. About a year later, Jodi and Brendon were making transitions of their own. They were moving to Colorado and I was devestated. What I realized later was that it was Jodi's turn to blossom. The transition without her was difficult but eventually I started stepping out on limbs, meeting new people, nurturing my faith and calling Columbia my home. Meanwhile, it took a couple more moves but Jodi finally found her footing and the perfect guy. Saturday she's getting married.