~ Oklahoma

Oooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.....

Tomorrow morning I’m leaving the dry, desert heat of California for the sticky, humid, breath stealing, suck the air right out of you heat of Oklahoma. I’m not sure which one is worse. Seeing as how I like to actually be able to breathe when I step out into the sunshine, I vote for Oklahoma being the worst.

Oklahoma City is the place of my birth. It’s where I started school, formed friendships, had my first crush and grew to dislike those awkward teenage years. I didn’t move to Omaha until my senior year of high school and yet Omaha is home to me. Oklahoma is where my mom is, and the saying goes that ‘home is where your mom is’ so in a sense, Oklahoma is also home.

Oklahoma is where my fondest memories of my aunt Joyce are; it’s also where both she and my dad are buried. It’s where my sister and my niece live, it’s where my cousins and my uncle are, friends from my childhood and memories good and bad that are often made during the years we grow up. It’s where I went to grade school and where I fumbled through the awkward years of junior high. While Oklahoma is where I was raised, Nebraska is where I ‘grew up.’

While living in Omaha, I’d drive to Oklahoma City every summer to spend time with my mom and my sister. It wasn’t until I had barely reached the Oklahoma City limit signs that the memories would wash over me like warm water. I’d crest the hill on the interstate and literally sigh out loud at the scene before me. There’s nothing like going home to the place of your birth.

I haven’t been home for two years and I miss it. I miss the red dirt that is always caked on the bottom bricks of every home you pass. I miss how that same red dirt clings to the bottom of every car that you see driving down the road. I miss hanging out and laughing with my sister. I miss my niece, miss seeing the beautiful, unique young woman she’s becoming. I miss Sonic Drive-Ins. Yes, we had them in Omaha but getting a Cherry Limeade just wasn’t the same.

I have to add that my personal motto is, "Oklahoma born and bred, but I still bleed Nebraska red." However, when I do go home to Oklahoma, I'm a Sooner again, if only for a little while.

Tomorrow night, as my plane touches the tarmac at Will Rogers Int’l Airport, I’m sure I’ll sigh and tell myself that it’s good to be home, even if only for a few days.