Wide Open Spaces

The year was 1999. Early January to be exact. I had been at my first fulltime teaching position for a semester. My sister was getting ready to start the final semester of college in which she would be earning her associates degree. We both were driving quite a distance to work and school respectively. Around the holidays we began to discuss options to the situation. Neither of us could afford a place on our own. So, we got the bright idea to share an apartment. My parents were very leary of this. We had barely survived sharing a bedroom as children. How were we ever going to share an apartment. Determined we were to set out on our own and prove our parents wrong. we began scouring the area looking for something we could afford. Low and behold we would find just the right place. As we were walking through the apartment, we soon realized it was the second apartment that my brother and sister-in-law had rented several years before. It was meant to be. We signed the lease and packed up our belongings from our parents house. We didn't have much furniture in the place that first night. we had an old tv and vcr that our parents gave us. we didn't have cable yet so we satisfied ourselves with watching videos. I believe we about wore out Austin Powers and Overboard. Music was also big. Our two favorite songs at the time were "The apartment" by the Barenaked Ladies and of course "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie chicks. The songs held meaning for us.
Here it is almost 10 years since we moved into that apartment. Tomorrow, I will be heading home to assist my sister in moving into her first place of her own since we rented that place so long ago. Just her and her son. Making it on their own. I have never seen her more excited. It has taken her a long time to get to this point. The road hasn't been easy but it has certainly made her stronger. For the first time since we moved into that small apartment, (and I mean small) she is standing on her own two feet. Without, I might add, the weight of a man weighing her down. I admire her for taking this step. I am proud of her for doing what is in her and her son's best interest. I wish her nothing but the best on this new endeaver.