Final Chapter: Finding My North..the scene is fall 1990

   North Platte seemed an eternity ago. I guess you could say my half-way point between home and destiny. Small town Oklahoma boys don't usually wander this far from home chasing a set of "eyes", still calling out to them since the first time they saw them. Still here I am on what seems an endless South Dakota road singing every song my old pickups radio will tune in. My windows rolled up now due to the sting of the mountain winds and crispness in the fall air. I remember warmer skies, and a lot more sunshine, pulling off of that old dirt road leaving my momma and dads old farm. Saying goodbye to momma and grandma was always hard, grandmas tears and moms words always making more sense than anything I could ever argue against. But, they could see it in my soul and knew, this trip north had already stolen my heart.
     I didn't pack much, a little scared I suppose of what might actually happen when I met her again. This was after all, the first time we would truly be together without the constant reminder of school, grades, friends, and pressure from parents and peers to prove ourselves. Not to mention the enormous over-hanging fear of an 18 year old boy about to meet the parents of the girl he knew as South Dakota (It just fit her, not because she grew up there. But those blue eyes looked just like that wide open beautiful sky that went on forever). I remember our first kiss and last, since waving good-bye to each other after fall break that first semester. The feelings and never before felt emotions were definitely crashing in as I approached her hometown of Pierre, SD. I always laugh when I think of Pierre. From the first day I met her she let me know, "it's like pier, you know like a boat dock". She never misses a chance to correct my words, and poke fun at my slow country drawl. I guess that's what made falling in love with her so easy. Sometimes you just laugh so hard all the pieces fall into place.
     The moment has turned into anticipation as I turn off the main road onto an old dusty farm road. Two more miles feels like an eternity, I feel at ease though, this road feels like home. The full moon is coming up now, like a beacon leading me to an old front porch back in Oklahoma, a familiar place.... maybe I am home. One last turn, headlights dim in the fog, as I lift up my eyes to see her old farmhouse as I pull into her drive, and just like I knew she would be, waiting on me with tears in her eyes and me in her heart.