January 11, 2022, I told you all how I packed up my life and moved across the country, to find something new.

On September 7, 2022, I packed up my life and once again made a cross-country trip. This time, I was going home.

Texas did not turn out the way I had hoped in so many ways.

I was in a very rural area with limited transportation, both Amanda and Jeremy work, and all 3 boys play sports. So between their everyday lives, my lack of a license, and the ruralness of the area, it became extremely difficult for me to find a job.

This was one of many issues. Some were situational, some were personal/emotional, and some were just the universe doing what she does best. It wasn’t all bad, and I was able to find some work. Even the work wasn’t all bad.

Amanda introduced me to her husband Jeremy’s cousin Lacy who owns a Crawfish restaurant ( If you ever find yourself in Fannett, Texas make sure you stop at JuJus Cajun Crawfish Shak it’s the absolute best) and I was able to work for her a few days a week and as a fill-in if I could and was needed.

Eventually, after the season ended, I was able to get a job close to Amanda’s house at a gas station. It wasn’t the most fun job, and the pay was shit but it was a job, and at that point, I was taking whatever I could get with no complaints.

Emotionally, I was an absolute wreck.

I missed home. Travus, the kids, my mom, sisters, nieces, and nephews, my friends. I missed the cold, pizza, and blue cheese.

Staying in touch with those at home was so important to me, so I video-called everyone as often as they would deal with and called and texted twice as much.

I didn’t have friends of my own (well not just yet). I know it sounds dumb but everyone I was meeting were Amanda and Jeremy’s friends.

Now don’t get me wrong none of those people have ever been unkind to me and absolutely accepted me and my Yankee ways (and to be honest Hamshire is so small there are not many people in town who don’t know Amanda and Jeremy) but they were my sister’s people.

When I started at the gas station, that changed real quick. You see, the one thing I have always loved about working in places like fast food joints and gas stations is the regulars, the people you get to know without even realizing it.

They show up day after day, getting almost always the same things, and little chit-chat happens, and soon you know them by name and not by order. You start asking about the family and building a small friendship. It may not extend past the doors of wherever it is you work, but it’s there. Sorry, I’m rambling.

It wasn’t just the regulars, though (and in Hamshire, everyone is a regular). I had a co-worker who very quickly turned into my people.

The first shift Asher and I worked together I was so nervous because up to that point I had only worked with the one other person and new people make me nervous ( I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and I know that).

So we did our introductions and retreated to our sides of the store. It didn’t take long after our small rush cleared and it was just the two of us that the small talk started.

The 2 pm to 10 pm shift in a small Texas town gets boring real quick. I told him how I was from New York and trying to find myself and build something new.

He had a similar story, a transplant to Texas just looking for happiness. By the end of that shift, I knew Asher was going to be my first Texas friend , whom I had found all on my own.

We became fast friends.

Asher introduced me to his brother Alec and his wife Serria, and my first friend had turned into my 3 friends. We would sit and laugh for what felt like forever.

Those moments sitting in Asher’s living room with him Alec and Serria just talking about life and laughing are some of my favorite times in Texas.

I know the three of them have no idea how badly I needed their friendship and just how important they have become to me, and I know I can’t thank them enough for just being them.

When the three of them came into the picture, I was really really struggling, and it was just getting worse.

I felt alone and angry and just overwhelmed by all of the things that weren’t going my way.

So, to have such fun-loving and genuine people come into my life and want to be my friend was amazing and made the darkness a little brighter.

I mentioned Lacy earlier, and yes, she did start as Amanda and Jeremy’s people, but she is definitely my people as well. The amount of love and support that woman spent my 11 months in Texas just pouring into me is beyond measure. That woman is one of the most amazing humans I have ever been honored to meet and blessed to call my friend.

She would and still does spend hours just listening to the good, bad, and indifferent. She motivates me to make me happy and reminds me constantly how I can do anything. I have no idea what the universe thinks I did to deserve this woman’s love and support, but I am thankful for it.

There are so many other positive memories I will forever carry with me from my time in Texas and people I will never let go of.

I still talk to my Texas people regularly, and I always will. I have every intention of going back for visits in the future.

I miss the people I left in Texas, but I don’t really miss Texas.

I am thankful for the time I had in Texas it gave me things I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”

 C.S. Lewis