Alternate title of this post: A young girl’s dreams no longer hallow

Dear Arizona,

On my very first day as an Arizonian, I was 25 years old. I was a bright-eyed girl who had never been west of the Mighty Mississippi. You and your people took me in as your own and shaped the woman I am today more than any other place has.

You were home of my first love. My first heartbreak. The first time I was fired from a job. The first time I climbed a mountain. The first time a four-legged bundle of love captured my heart. My first 5k. My first big mistakes. My first … many things!

You were the “wide open spaces” that I was chasing. You taught me about love and life. Failure and success. You taught me to stop and smell the roses. You’re home to my favorite place on earth. You showed me the things that are truly important in life.

Everything that I was searching for as a little girl, you helped me find. There is a huge amount of growth and enlightenment that happens to a person between the ages of 25 and 33 and I wouldn’t have wanted to become a “real adult” in any other place in the world.

There will be more mountains. There will be more life lessons. I may not be within your borders for them, but you will forever be in my heart.

If I were a contestant on Wheel of Fortune and Pat Sajck asked me where I was from, “Arizona” would be my answer.

Until next time….

-KR

Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about
Who’s never left home, who’s never struck out
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow
A young girl’s dreams no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won’t be coming back with the rest
If these are life’s lessons, she’ll take this test

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes