"California's full of whiskey, women, & gold."

I came across this picture, and it made me wonder who these women are: if the woman in the center is the mother, if they had been traveling in that car, and how brave they could have been if they were, say...traveling 'cross country, just the three of them, in that car, set out to make brand new lives for themselves somewhere.

For anyone that knows the story of how my family ended up in California from South Carolina, you might notice that my daydream sounds a bit familiar.

Back in the Summer of 2002, a day after I had just wrapped up my Freshman year of high school in Greenville, South Carolina, my little sister, my mom, and I closed the door of the filled-to-the-brim Ryder truck and set out on the adventure that would completely change the rest of our lives.  We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee to pick up my older sister who was waiting for us in her own Ryder truck.  (Note: Both Ryder trucks were towing the two cars that we owned, and neither my mom nor my sister knew how to back up with those suckers attached to the back.  This meant that in the 3,000 miles we were embarking on, there was literally no turning back.)  I can vividly remember my older sister and I driving through the Arizona desert in her truck (Little Sister and Mom were in my mom's truck), singing on full blast Toby Keith's "Shoulda Been a Cowboy", and how we sang extra loud when it got to the line: "California's full of whiskey, women, & gold!"  That's definitely a detail of the trip that I will always remember.

We arrived in sunny Southern California on June 5, 2002, and it was the best move of our lives.  I think back on it now as an adult, knowing the fears of the unknown and the fears of supporting yourself and others, and I am awed at how brave my mom and big sister were to put their plans of moving to California into action.  They wanted more, for themselves and for me and my little sister, and they did it. They've both always inspired me, hence why I have never second-guessed my decision to move to New York, and every time I reminisce about that crazy five day, 'cross country trip, I remember just how lucky I am to have such strong and great women to look up to.