Here

Yesterday I drove past 1016 3rd Street. Doesn't happen very often. Usually if you want to get across town in an easterly or westerly direction, you take one of the main thoroughfares, Highway 14 on the north side or 8th Street South on the other side. Wider streets intended to move traffic along in an efficient manner, and you can move along at 30 or 35mph, accomplishing the task faster. Seems a little silly since Brookings is a small town, you can get pretty much anywhere in ten minutes or less. Because of the particular errands I was running yesterday, I opted for the narrower, primarily residential 3rd Street instead. I wasn't in a hurry, so the 25mph speed limit wasn't an issue. And although it was quite cold, the temperature was in the single digits above zero, it was Sunday afternoon and going for a drive seemed like the thing to do. And what, you may ask, is the significance of 1016 3rd Street? More than half my life ago, in the third floor attic apartment of that house, I surrendered my virginity to a cute guy named Steve. He ended up being my boyfriend for the next three or so years. And I got to thinking about the many phases of my life I have lived in this little prairie college town. I moved out of my mother's home and struck out on my own here. I got married and divorced here, both of those fates being sealed under the same roof at the Brookings County Courthouse. I gave birth to both of my sons at the hospital here. It feels more significant to me that neither of them was conceived here, but they both entered this life here and uttered their first cries. I've worked at a number of jobs here, a couple that I really liked, including my current one, but also some miserable ones that I was more than happy to leave. So here I am. The first time I visited Brookings was in July of 1975. I had just graduated from high school and came here on a road trip with two of my girlfriends. One of them was looking to transfer to SDSU so we were here for an adventure away from home and also to tour the college. Little did I know at that time that such major chapters of my life would play out here. Mostly it's been good. Often interesting. And for the last 21 years I've lived in this very pleasant and comfortable home on the south side of town. In a couple of years when the younger son finishes high school, I can see where some options could open up. I wonder if I'll move somewhere else and establish a home, work in a different field, maybe follow a not yet met significant other to some other here. I am drawn to a couple of geographical locations for spiritual reasons that I can't quite explain and wonder if either of them will become my future here. One thing's for sure, when I first set foot in Brookings, I didn't experience the faintest glimmer of a premonition that this would become my here. And that is the correct answer if anyone should happen to ask where you are. Here.