Growing Up in a Fly-Over State

For those of you who listen to country music, you've probably heard Jason Aldean's newest song, "Fly-Over States". For those of you who live in one of those, you can probably understand why that song gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. I get filled with a glow when I listen to those words describing my favorite part of the country.

When I think about Oklahoma there are so many things that come to mind...

I think about the first time I lived away from home and all the days I spent missing Dallas, wondering if an empty place like Oklahoma could ever compare to the busy lifestyle I was so used to. I remember the first major stumbles of my college life and the friends who were there stumbling next to me. I think about how excited I was to make that 2 1/2 hour drive back home to visit.

I think about the first time I was excited to drive back to Oklahoma from a visit in Dallas, and how my heart sank when I drove out of Oklahoma for the last time on my way to the newest phase in my life. I think about how every time I pass through there now, I am filled with happiness and good memories.

I think about the first time I went storm-chasing with complete strangers, after sitting outside the Meteorology building and just asking random strangers if they had room for one more. I remember how it felt to go speeding down the highway, circling the state in search of the perfect storm and how it felt that first time when I got to see a wall cloud.

I think about the summer heat and driving in my car to and from work, then meeting my boyfriend by the lake to go sailing in the evenings. I think about driving with the windows down, singing along to the radio, sipping a slushy from Sonic as I made my way down Highway 9 toward the dock. I think about going out for snow cones when the sun was setting and enjoying that sticky-sweet taste at the end of a long day. I think about barbecues and cook-outs on Saturday nights, and watching baseball games in the hot sun on Sunday afternoons.

I think about seeing Eric next to me in the Jeep wearing his Cardinals hat and his sunglasses, eating sunflower seeds and singing along to the radio together while we made our way through town. I think about drinks at the Mont, dinner at Tarahumara's, and dessert at the Melting Pot in Bricktown. I think about dressing up and heading to the airport to pick him up after a long day of work and watching the planes slip through the sky in front of a wildfire sunset sky. 

I think about the place where I took the first real steps in my life as an adult, how hard it was to figure out things on my own, but how much I wouldn't change it for anything. It's where I learned to provide for myself, how to love another person unconditionally, and how to trust myself to achieve what I set out to do. It's where I learned how to fail and how to pick myself back up and keep trying until I succeeded, at school, at work, and at love.

When I think about Oklahoma, I feel a fire in my soul.