Personal Narrative: Moving To Oregon

Moving from the South to the Midwest was a huge change in my life. For my whole life I grew up to the southern hospitality and the tang of salt in the air since the beach was always less than 5 minutes away wherever I lived. Now I moved to a place where they flip you off to say hi, and the closest thing to an ocean is a sea of grass that seems to go on forever. Although I am now adapted to the change for the most part, it took me awhile to break in to the social norms of an average Midwest kids.

I come from the small town of Caribou, Maine. “Why so far north?” You might ask. Well, my father took a job as meteorologist for NOAA in Caribou following his retirement from the Air Force after 20 years of service. I moved to Maine in August of 2008, exactly 9 years ago; however, Maine is the 4th location I’ve lived in after Virginia (my birthplace), Alabama, and North Carolina.

Just recently, I found out I was moving to another state. Knowing I have to leave everything behind was awful. I was halfway through eighth grade, starting the second semester, and I was doing great. My grades were all A’s and I was happy there with all my friends, Amber, Marianna, and Makayla. Our house was decent, my sister and I both had our own rooms anything I would ever wish for. My dad had been promoted to another job, where he was going to get paid more than what he was currently earning. It was an amazing opportunity for my family. I was glad for my dad, but I still felt bad for myself.

Me and my family decided to move to Oregon all the way from New England I decided to keep a journal for the adventure we have to pack before we leave though my 18 year old son Bernard told us to bring his xylophone and I Charles Marvin Ives wanted to bring an anvil in case I need to fix or make anything with metal or use our spare parts we brought even though I have no experience as a blacksmith because I'm a farmer. My wife Samantha Packed the bacon, salt, and whiskey and we all had to lift the water keg. I decided to bring my shovels and hammer and some salt for the bacon. We're bringing pots and other cooking utensils as well. My oldest son, Carl who's 20 years old thought it was a good idea to bring a plow. We will also need some firewood

4,097 people. That was the population of Centralia Missouri in 2011. Moving had never been an issue for me, when your dad is in the military you get used to it. This time it was different than any other time. My parents were divorcing and my mom was forcing me to move to a town with only 4,097 people opposed to my home in Virginia with 225,401 people.

My change is about when I moved to Washington from Indiana. When my real dad dropped use off at our drop off spot. We want to a store, and got a drink. After that we started to drive away, I was so many emotions. The reasons for these emotions because I was moving closer to my family, I was losing my friends.My step-dad as driving the u hale and my mom was in the truck with me, my brothers, and my grandma was in the u hale with my step-dad. We also had a two cat's in cages and a turtle which was in a small cage with a tiny bit of water. We stopped at a lot of rest stops at first. I heard my mom say "we need gas" or " call your dad and tell him to stop there."

I have some news for you… You’re not going to like it”. The hardest thing for me yet, is trying to fit in. So, coming home to a parent saying we’re moving was amazing news, I couldn’t be happier. But, moving school districts was going to be a very hard obstacle to maneuver around. One year later, coming home from work, my father came up to me and told me he got a promotion in his job. I was thrilled for him, after that he told me we have to move again, this time to Texas. This is not what I had in mind, however, I still was happy for him and expected myself to accept the idea of making more friends in a different state.

I was born on October 23rd, 1999 very early in the morning the very first person to carry me was my dad. When I two years old me and my mom moved to Las Vegas, and lived there for about 6 years then soon move back to California. That was in early the early 2000’s when that happened . Few years past by then my sister was born June 23rd, 2005. I was staying with my cousin at the time until she was born then I went to see my sister on the day she was born.

At the age of ten years old, I had just moved to Arizona and didnt have any friends. I was scared in a new place and we had moved alot so didnt want to make friends if we were going to move again.

This is my story when I moved to colorado and when I moved again and what I felt when we moved and the second story Is when I moved to a different neighborhood and school so enjoy.

In 2011 on a very cold December night, my dad told me something that I will never forget. My siblings and I were all sitting in my fathers very out dated apartment, eating hamburger helper and watching a movie on his small 32 inch t.v.

On October 5, 2010, my mom made the permanent decision to move to Iowa from Indiana. I was very nervous. I knew I had to switch schools, I had spent three years at that school getting to know everyone and getting used to the school, but now it was time to leave not only the school but also the state. While on the road, I couldn’t concentrate. We’ve been to Iowa numerous times so I knew the drive quite well. I ended up going to sleep by worrying myself so much.

At the age of 27, I had an epiphany; For my entire adult life, I had not been truly living. After careful consideration of solutions, seemingly endless nights of research, and thorough preparation, my decision was to uproot myself and move from Virginia to Colorado. In the three years that I lived there I learned many things about myself and my surroundings. I discovered the most beautiful and amazing nature scenes and had some exciting adventures. The daily sunshine and glorious views always brought a smile to my face and lifted my spirits. If I ever woke up not feeling great, all I had to do was take a step outside. There, my energy levels soared as I hiked my days away and enjoyed peace in the mountains, at the parks, and by the lakes and

The year was 1999 when we moved to Colorado from New Mexico. I was just a year old. My father recalls searching restlessly day and night to help support me and my mother. Coming to a new state was difficult; moving from basement to basement was their only option. Fortunately, a little after our arrival, my father found a job working construction and we were able to get a small apartment.Although small, it was still fulfilling in every way. Money was scarce at the time, as well as food. As he talks, he mentions a weekend night when he and I were spending some time together in the living room. I was a year old, and I was hungry. I decided to go to the kitchen and find some milk. When I made it to the kitchen, I opened the fridge. My father says,

When I was nine years old my father went to prison. Since he was a single parent, I was forced to relocate to Washington State to live with my grandparents. Moving to Washington was one of the worst things that I thought could happen at the time, even though it ended up strengthening me as a person. I was forced to leave my friends, school, father and all of my other family members. I was taken from everything I knew and was left very confused and conflicted.