Newburg to Phoenix

Newburg to Phoenix

I left Newburg, New York in the Spring of 2000 to begin a new life in Phoenix, Arizona. I thought about all the new and wonderful things that were waiting for me in Phoenix, and I couldn't hide my anxiety as packed up my things and said my good-byes. I was experiencing bad times in Newburg and my finances were depleted. I had to ride the 'Dog' to Phoenix and the three day bus ride seemed to last for three weeks.

My mother met me at the bus station in Phoenix, but I was too tired to really appreciate the fact that she waited for me for twelve hours because the bus was delayed several times during the trip. I had no way of cootacting her because I de-activated my cell phone before leaving Newburg, and I didn't have enough change to call her from a pay phone. She was very tired, but she didn't complain when I arrived at that poorly lighted and poorly staffed bus station. She was worried about me when I didn't show up on time, and she tried many times to get some kind of information from the staff at the Phoenix terminal ... to no avail! Of course, when I did finally arrive, she was just too happy to see me to complain about the long wait. As I had mentioned before; I was just too tired to appreciate her patience.

We arrived at her house about an hour after I arrived at the terminal, and that's when pent up anger began to show its face. My mother began asking why it took so long for me to get to Phoenix; I began complaining about questions that I had no answer to; she then pointed out the fact that I hadn't called, and the battle was on. I truly

needed to get some sleep, as did my mother. We agreed to continue our conversation in a more civilized manner after we both got a few hours of stress relieving rest.

There were a lot of questions that went un-answered during the 'civilized' conversation, but there was something in the air that lingered on long after that day. I began my new life in Phoenix, and before I knew it, two years had gone by, and all those new and wonderful things that were waiting for me in Phoenix, were somehow, still waiting.

I realized that I was simply repeating the same existence that I had in Newburg. While I was in Newburg, there was a beautiful park that had hot air balloon rides in the spring. I remembered going past that park so many times. I remembered the countless times I had told myself that one