Flying the Nest

We were all born and raised in Boise, Idaho. Inevitably we all eventually flew away from the nest. One departed for an adventure in New York. Another found refuge far away from her childhood home in the Midwest. College life in McMinnville was in store for yet another. And the solace of the peaceful ocean town of Astoria was most appealing for the youngest.

A few of us made a pit stop back in Boise on our respective journeys to unearth that place that we could call home. There were adventures in Eugene, camp counseling in Yelm, temporary homes in Medford, even a four year stint in Seattle. And who can forget the countless apartments all throughout Portland?

One by one we made our way from the dry Boise desert to the soggy streets of the Northwest. One by one we sought out Portland neighborhoods that fit our lifestyles – a place where we would each create new lives and establish happy homes of our very own. Only one sister remains in Seattle anxiously awaiting her cue to claim stake on her own corner of Portland.

Portland was the “big city” we would visit as children. It’s the place we ventured out to when we visited distant relatives. It’s the place where we remember sleeping in cramped motor home quarters camped in the mall parking lots when we needed to leave our “small town” to find the latest fashions.

Portland isn’t a place we sought out knowing we would find sanctuary. It’s a place that we all happened upon at one time or another and it just felt like home. This is the place we all came back to after various adventures in our young adult lives. It’s the place that we will all soon call home.

Did you ever imagine that all four of your girls would end up in Portland?