Jadyn

The Move

       From the grassy plains of Indiana to the dry desert of Arizona. My family had to move to the west for dad’s job. My sister, Haley and I only knew of the countryside full of hills and trees. We didn’t know of life any different than that. Life in Indiana had all four seasons and rained almost every other day. But little did we know Arizona weather would be very hot and dry. When my sister and I found out our eyes filled with tears as salty as the ocean. Haley and I did not want to leave all our friends and family. My parents said it was for the best and that we would love it eventually. Haley and I had no choice but to move thousands of miles away. The hardest part for us was telling our friends and family goodbye.

       One week later my family and our dog, Brett were on the road for twenty four hours headed west. The journey had just started and my sister and I couldn’t be more afraid for the future. My mom and dad were happy to be moving back to where they had lived 12 years before. The drive felt like a year even though it took us 3 days to get to our dreaded destination. Finally our fearful adventure arrived as we pulled into the driveway of our new house. Once we stepped out of the car the Arizona heat hit us like a truck. Even Brett started moping around when he hopped out of the backseat of my mom’s car. The next couple of days were spent unpacking and moving in. Haley and I had to start school within the next two weeks which was terrifying for us. 

       We shadowed at a school near our house which was a charter school. My sister and I were put through lots of testing that took half of our day. Once the testing was over we then went to class and got put with a classmate to show us around.  We went home to dad as upset as a parent would be after their child crashed a car. We cried to our dog for comfort because he seemed like he was the best listener. Our dad wondered why we were so emotional, so he asked us what was wrong. Haley and I proceeded to explain how we felt that we did not fit in at that school. I mentioned that the classmates very odd and the schoolwork was extremely difficult. Haley and I knew we were not meant to go to this charter school. 

       Our mom and dad looked into other schools the rest of that same night. So we ended up going to a public school closer to the house. Little did we know, this was a blessing in disguise. My sister and I ended up liking it a hundred times better. I made a friend who soon turned into my best friend who I still have today as did Haley. We still of course missed the countryside, we always would. My parents settled into their jobs and had no problem as expected. My sister and I did settle in and make more friends in Arizona, but we still were not content with life and wanted to go back home. We did not even like how the sun beat on us everyday on end. We had never known a place to be as dry as a bone like Arizona. Our dad was more sympathetic than our mom when it came to talking about home, Paoli, Indiana. My dad would help us feel better if we were upset and he would tell us it would be okay. While my mom would just ignore that we were unhappy because she liked the desert. Brett was just as useful as talking to a stuffed animal because although he couldn’t talk he was a good comforter. Haley and I were just expected to get used to it and eventually like it.

       Time went by and I was soon going into high school as would Haley the next year. We still were very sad and missed Indiana like crazy. I did not want to start high school in Arizona at all. Even though I had made friends in middle school it still wasn’t comparable to my old friends who I had known my whole childhood. There was no chance of being able to move home until I could graduate and go to college there. Eventually I did start high school in Arizona and things started to change in my mindset of living here. I started missing home less and started to become as happy as I used to be. Haley was content also but she never really had a huge opinion on it. Brett even became more energetic as time went by. My mom and dad started to be in better moods as if they had noticed my sister and I’s behavior change. We now did not cry ourselves to sleep every night and didn’t think about home everyday. We made many more friends as we both proceeded to high school. The desert heat now did not seem to bother any of our family members but it felt normal now. Changing schools the first couple of weeks of moving to Arizona and most of middle school did have a major impact on Haley and I. If we had not found the other school we may have still been very upset with life which is crazy to think about. Now my whole family was all content with our lives and things got back to normal. We still continued to visit Indiana annually and had visitors all the time also. My sister and I now could not see our life any other way and saw moving to Arizona as a blessing.