Yes, I was happy to wave good-bye to my teens. It was a time where I had found a few glimmers of a brave world in which I wanted to dwell, but most of the time I lived in suspension waiting for those glimpses. My twenties led me into that world I longed for.
Twenty, 21, 22 and a part of 23 were spent at Ohio University. I can't even type that name without a smile creeping across my lips. I love my alma mater. She taught me to respect, to be open, to tolerate, to question, to reach out. Although there are many professors, friends, classes, jobs and so on that were influential, there are two influences that spring to mind above all else: girls and boys.
These "girls" are the three women that I lived throughout my years at OU. We met on the first day. I still remember sitting in the grass behind Biddle Hall, nervous and expectant. During our four years together we lived a lifetime. Through them I learned to serve and to be served. I learned the art of diplomacy. I learned to compromise, to give and to take. I simply adore these girls. And the "boys" were not romanitic interests, not boyfriends. They were Danish students that became dear friends who created a warm European cocoon in the midst of a Midwest campus and allowed me to feel apart of this European world long before I stepped foot in it. When I was offered the job in Prague it was their resounding "GO!" that gave me that little bit of extra courage to really strike out on my own European adventure.
So, off I went to Central Europe at the age of 23 to teach English. At 24 I backpacked around Europe for nearly 2 months. I saw Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and England. I found myself in the course of those many many miles, I found a self I'd always hoped had existed. But my poor mother. When I think of those messages I left her once a week from some new city, new land. She must have spent a lot time praying during my travels.
I decided that one year in Prague just wasn't enough. I needed more goulash and more language and more trains and more. So, at 25 I stayed. And one January evening I met a Czech. My Slovak roommate introduced us. This Czech knew where to find a painting that I had been wanting to see. The painting is of an old woman standing on a bridge. I remember standing on the metro platform waiting to meet this Czech. It wasn't about the painting any longer, it was about him.
And so I stayed. I planted my roots in this country in the heart of Europe. I spent my 26th, 27th, 28th, and finally my 29th year in the Czech Republic. I did so much loving and growing and learning and reading and traveling and cooking and meeting and feeling in those years that it would take me longer than a reader would have time for to write it all out. Let's just say that my twenties "lived happily ever after" and I'm looking forward to what this next decade will bring....
Thank you to all who have been with me throughout my twenties, and teens. I appreciate your friendship. The books we've read together. The giggles and smiles, and maybe we've even had some tears. I won't list all your names here. But if you are reading this, then know I was thinking of you as I wrote it. I was thinking of that next cup of tea we'd share and a warm embrace. Thank you.
