Taking the Southern Route

In 2009, my fiancé and I loaded a twenty-two foot Penske truck and moved our lives and belongings 888 miles from Lawton, Oklahoma to Pensacola, Florida.

            Twenty-four months before our big move, we had decided that in order to prosper, we would have to leave Lawton. I wasn’t sad about leaving the town behind. My best friends were both moving away as well, and although I knew I would miss my mother, there wasn’t anything holding me there. I was going to graduate college, and with a Bachelor’s degree in English, my options were limited in Oklahoma.

            Making the decision to move was simple. Choosing a place to move to was a bit more challenging. My fiancé’s two children live in Louisiana, so our options were limited to the southern states. Since we are an interracial couple and acceptance wasn’t likely in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, we opted on moving to either Florida or Texas. Living near a military post was also a requirement. We visited San Antonio, Texas and Pensacola, Florida. In the end, the white beaches and close proximity to universities at which we could both study lured us to Pensacola.

            We found a nice duplex to move into on the internet, and the day after my 25^th birthday, we pulled into the driveway of our new home. Within two months, I found a position at a Motorola two-way radio company. I’ve been working there as a marketing executive and customer service representative ever since.

            Making the choice to better our lives and taking the risk in moving to the unknown was easy. Living in Pensacola where life is quite the opposite of any place I’ve ever lived has proven to be more difficult. Another move appears to be imminent.

            So tell me readers, if you could move anywhere on the map, where would you move to?