I couldn’t stay inside and avoid life in the outside world for long!  My sister and I were off to a hockey game.  Yes, that is right, I went to my first ever NHL game…and it was great!

My sister is a fan of Montreal.  They happened to be playing the Columbus Bluejackets, so we made it in time to see the puck drop.  It was exhilarating! It is also why I’ve decided to write a brief aside to my healthier eating challenge.  The Arena was HUGE, and full of jersey-wearing fans. It’s the first sporting event that I’ve been to since the US Open in Flushing Meadows last summer where everyone was there to truly enjoy the sport; support their team or favorite player.  I smiled.

It got me thinking about all the times I have moved in my life. I’m excited for my journey to the Northeast on a more permanent basis this summer, but something struck me last night in the energy and atmosphere of stars & stripes. Two national anthems sung; hands over our hearts. I will miss Ohio. Much like I miss Kentucky, and smile when I think about Texas. Indiana recalling memories of family and friends from long ago. The Northeast makes me think of change and new beginnings, a place I already feel like I belong even when I am not there. But last night, I found myself really wanting to buy some sort of Ohio memorabilia to look back fondly on at another time in another place.

The sports fans in this state are crazy. A large reason I feel like an outsider living among the beer drinking, tail-gating, face-painting, hard-core sports fans, is that I have no connection to this state right now.  Oh, but I will. When I look back on all the wonderful people and growth in my life that has come from being here, I will see a random Ohio License plate or a fan displaced to another state, while their jersey suggests where their heart really lies, and I will smile again. Hockey will probably become a staple for me soon (much to my sister’s anticipated excitement for that day), and my northern friends are already telling me I must choose between the Bruins and The Rangers. I’ve told them I will just have to be Switzerland for awhile. Yes, I’ll probably look back on all the Ohio teams with real affinity for all my friends here that bleed the colors of collegiate and professional sports. A patriotism for State I see all around me, but something inside still says it’s just not my team or my home here.

Maybe sports are what unite a person to their State truly these days. Perhaps the only reason I am not a true fan of any major sports team is because I’m just waiting to embrace the place I know I’m supposed to go next. Perhaps I’ll buy some shirt or hat that says Ohio & wear it proudly on a day when I wish to remember more of the people I hope will visit me once I take my next journey. Perhaps I’ll put a quilt together one day of all the places I’ve lived, and wrap it warmly around myself in front of a fire on a cold winter’s night…

I am just so grateful for all the experiences and awareness and LIFE inside of me; this living water certainly only gets better with age. I heard my favorite song play today. I turned it up loud. It overwhelmed me. I want to share it with everyone, so here it is: You Make Me Brave