When I started working at the Hillsboro Free Press in October, I introduced myself and mentioned how much I like it here. Now, more than nine months later, I wanted to add to that by telling a little more of the story.
About three years ago, my husband, Randy, had an opportunity to work in Hillsboro. After discussing it, we both decided it was for the best.
At the time, we thought it was a temporary assignment and so I went about my newspapering job in Colby.
Each Friday, Randy would faithfully make the four-hour drive home and on Sunday?s he would pack his bag and head back for another work week in Hillsboro.
One month went by, then two months, six months, a year and every weekend without fail, whether snow, rain, heat or gloom of night, he wouldn?t miss his two days at home.
We both started wondering where our home really was.
On the one-year anniversary of his job in Hillsboro, we both sat out on our patio in Colby and contemplated the ?M? word.
Randy and I had made our home in Colby for almost two decades and we knew what was in every nook and cranny, which was frightening.
We knew we would never be able to move all our stuff or even figure out what to do with it all?the process was mindboggling.
I felt like Scarlet in Gone With the Wind: ?I?ll think about that tomorrow.?
As the weeks went by again and days turned into months, the second anniversary arrived. That?s not to say we didn?t want to move. We both worked at putting the finishing touches on our house and I started looking for work in Hillsboro.
Like the tortoise in the fable, we may have been slow in practically every aspect of this saga, but the moral was the same?we ended up winning.
Many years ago, I moved away from family and all the familiar things I grew up with. Good people, though, are all around and in Hillsboro, that?s certainly true. Adding to that, Hillsboro has some other great things that I sincerely have missed from childhood.
I haven?t seen lightning bugs in more than 30 years. Now I can go out at night and enjoy them all I want.
It rains here and I like needing my umbrella. There are trees and green grass even outside the city limits.
Most of all, I don?t need to worry about Randy making four-hour trips anymore.
We are both home now. ?PD
