Texas Through and Through

by Kristi Parker

Blog Last Updated; 10/12/2009

I knew they wouldn't stick around Colorado forever. I just wasn't ready for them to leave so soon.

I was surprised when my oldest daughter S and her husband chose to move here from California when he was discharged from the Marines last year. They're both native Texans and had planned to move back to the Lone Star state. They wanted to buy a house where real estate was affordable, and that eliminated both California and Colorado. And anyway, Texas was their home, the only home they had known before California.

However, a trip we all took to Texas in January 2008 to meet my son's new baby daughter changed her mind. S decided that besides real estate, there was no other reason for her to move back there. My son, also a Marine, was in Iraq at the time, so he wouldn't be around. Their father, who lives in Texas, was entangled in a new romance with a woman S did not like. And Texas in January is just downright depressing ? the landscape bleak and ugly, the weather cold and damp.

So, they chose Durango instead, where my middle daughter and I had landed in 2006. They rented a cool little house downtown for cheap, found jobs and settled in. When the snow came, they were slightly unnerved and unprepared. But they bought coats, mittens and snow shovels and made the best of their new environment. My daughter learned to drive on the snow and ice, and my little grandson loved to catch snowflakes on his tongue. My son-in-law quickly discovered that his VW Jetta with the low-profile tires was not conducive to Colorado winter, but he just shrugged and drove it anyway.

S said she loved Colorado, and I believed her. But every time they had to drive to Farmington to indulge in their favorite pastime ? shopping ? I cringed a little. Every time she mentioned how much she missed her father, I wondered how long her time was here in the mountains.

Deep down inside I always knew that my first-born would never be a Colorado girl, and she has proved me right. She is her father's daughter, after all ? Texas through and through. And her roots are calling her home.

I'll miss them desperately, but I also want them to be happy. If Texas can do for them what Colorado couldn't, then I say, "Vayo con dios, my darlings. May Texas make all your dreams come true.

Saturday, November 07, 2009
at 9:37:40 AM

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Taylor says:

Aw... this made me cry. So sad that they are going but like you said if it makes them happy. I'm still happy here. :)