Fifty-two years ago I drove across the country, as a newlywed, looking forward to my future in California. The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” was playing on the radio and the top of our wedding cake was packed into a cooler in the back of our little green Volkswagen Bug. I felt like I was heading out on a new adventure and I was filled with the hope and fear of what that might be. California was the land of “The Summer of Love.” Flower children from all over the country were there, searching for a place where peace and love was a lifestyle. I wasn’t one of them. I just wanted to get a teaching job and be a good wife. It was an incredible culture shock for me, coming from the Midwest. There was only one person on the whole campus where I went to college, who had long hair and wore sandals. I didn’t really fit in to the California scene, but I tried. I have now lived in California over twice as many years as I spent growing up in Minnesota. I am still a Midwest girl at my core, but I no longer feel out of place in my adopted state. I am blessed to be here, sitting on my deck, just a five minute walk to the ocean, with the breeze ruffling my now grayish/whitish hair. I could almost pass for a California blond, except my gnome-like body and pink skin betray my Nordic Minnesota roots. My outlook on life is still Minnesotan, socially conservative and politically liberal. Hard-working and determined, I got my teaching job, but I wasn’t so good at the wife thing. That didn’t stop me from finding love, it just wasn’t where I expected it to be. I found a whole new family of special friends who have given me the support I needed through a lifetime of experiences, both inspiring and devastating. I felt the same sense of adventure, on my recent trip back to Minnesota, that I felt when I first came to California, and the same combination of hope and fear. The isolation of the covid pandemic and my aging body made me feel vulnerable, but I wanted to travel again and see some of the people I hadn’t seen for a while. This trip gave me a chance to reconnect with my Midwest family, both actually family and the friends that feel like family. It was wonderful to be with the people who knew me as a kid. It always amazes me how strong that connection can be. Even though we aren’t young anymore, it feels like the years and physical distance slip away when we are together. When I left Minnesota I was barely out of my teens. I was totally clueless about life and the challenges I was about to face. Although I have been back many times since then, going back as a seventy-four-year-old senior citizen was a whole new experience. I appreciate my Midwest upbringing more than ever, but I also know that California has given me the freedom I needed to be my authentic self. It’s all good. I am a California girl with Minnesota roots and a Minnesota girl with California dreams.
2 Comments
JOAN L LINDBERG
8/6/2022 07:15:48 pm
I too made a pilgrimage from Minneosta to California back in 1970. Had high hopes to relocate and spent a week or two on the beach at Carmel by the Sea crocheting an afghan and enjoying the ocean and white sands. But I couldn't find a job with my BA in psych and was told I was "overqualified" for typist and retail positions. I came back to MN and have stayed here every since. But those "California Dreams" remain vivid and I miss the ocean sunsets. My ideal day would be to see the sunrise over Lake Superior and the sunset in SoCal.
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John Hoglund
8/7/2022 07:09:40 pm
You're literary skill impresses and surprises me at the same time. You definitely have a skill. I encourage you to continue!
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