the beginning in medias res

I was told to write before I left, and while I love to write, I didn't write. I lived. Now on Day 60, I think I'm going to add writing to my living. How beautifully and annoyingly imperfect to start like this, but no time to wallow, wish, or waste. Only time to be and do.

Day 1: Houston, TX---Lafayette, LA
I left my beloved Houston on March 18, 2019 wide eyed, clueless, and free. I pulled out of the driveway and then parked in my street to attempt my first of many "on the road" instastories. I took probably 10 versions of the same photo resigning to imperfection. I shared my starting mileage of 97,631 with the Dixie Chicks' The Long Way Around. After 10 minutes of perfecting the first public view into my new life as, I'm sure, my dad stared from the house front window wondering what I was doing, I finally put my foot on the gas and started driving. The plan was to make my way to Washington, D.C. by June 12, 2019 for The Given Forum stopping and staying with friends and friends of friends along the way playing everything by ear open to the not so clear but faithful Holy Spirit. 

Day -91: Houston, TX
Just after midnight on Monday, December 17, 2018, Claire Marie Nieschwietz Chesnutt drew her last breath alone in her hospice room. They told us to stop connecting with her so that she would stop fighting death. She was just 2 months shy of her 97th birthday. Gran was an imperfect badass woman I should have spent more time with. She didn't get to choose a lot in her story, but she lived her story. She owned her story. That's at least how this granddaughter saw it. About 10 hours later, I resigned from my dream job of almost 6 years seeking to better own my story. This decision was a year in the making, but it couldn't have been a better day to jump. The plan was self-employment/freelance work in ministry management and consulting or something like that. The plan was also to figure out the plan along the way.

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