Switchpoints

When I was out walking the other day, trying to escape the raging heat of the Hobbit Hole (we discovered that the a/c got turned off upstairs by the upstairs neighbor's adult kids, while the neighbors are on vacation, turning the Hobbit Hole into a 90+degree furnace for three days), I was pondering how we ended up in The Frontier, when it was so far out of My Life's Plan.

It led me to think about other points in my life where drastic things happened as a result of one action, one response, one event - switchpoints, of sorts.

The first was the summer just before I turned 11, when I bravely embarked on my first airplane flight, my first foray to the East Coast and my first "all-by-myself" adventure. I spent the entire summer living in Northern Virginia with my uncle and his family. It was there that I fell in love with all things East Coast (okay, most things East Coast - The Frontier has far better dairy that the East ever will). It wasn't just a matter of falling in love with a suburb or a city - I had been to plenty of both, before and after my Virginia sojurn. It was Washington, D.C., itself. I faithfully recorded my adventures in a small journal that summer, for which I am forever grateful, as it has kept my memories in almost pristine condition. I remember the first day we went to Washington, D.C. - the 4th of July. I remember sitting on the curb along Constitution Ave. for 3 1/2 hours watching the Independence Day Parade. I remember eating freeze-dried neopolitan ice cream at the Air & Space Museum, and huddling under the trees outside of the Museum of American History, trying unsuccessfully to get out of the rain. And I loved it. Every single minute of it. I loved each subsequent trip back into the city - it was a passion that consumed me the minute I could see any of the familiar landmarks. When I returned home, I told my mom, "I am going to move to Washington, D.C., when I am old enough." Another trip to DC while I was in high school did nothing but continue to fuel my love of the nation's capitol.

Nine years after the original declarations of an almost-11-year-old, I moved to the DC area for the first time. It started out as a semester-long break from school. It ended up beginning a 9-year-odyssey that changed my life forever, but more on that later.

The second Switchpoint came in the 9th grade. I was 14 years old and terrified of being in front of people, talking to strangers or taking a risk. I suspected that I wanted to be a journalist and knew that I would have to talk to people somehow, so I did what every rational, shy teenageer would do - I joined the speech & debate team. Somehow, even though I hated it my Freshman year (probably as a result of going 0-40 that season), I came back the next year, and the next and the next. I learned how to structure a speech, how to debate, how to use logic and evidence and the power and cadence of words and delivery to win. I learned about masculine and feminine endings and when to use them. I studied case briefs, body language and practiced my arguments and speeches in front of the mirror with a pen in my mouth (for proper tongue placement, to ensure better diction). By my Junior year, my partner and I were the top-ranked debate team in the state and had been offered full-ride debate scholarships to a local college. In my Senior year, I took state in my individual event, weeks after having major jaw surgery.

Not only did it drastically improve my confidence and my interpersonal skills and hone my hidden persuasiveness gene, it taught me how to structure my thoughts, how to think critically and how there was always another side to an argument - all things that led to future success in college and my career. Nothing else - no teacher, no class, no event, no skill - impacted my life as much as the decision I made that fateful September day; a decision even my Freshman coach questioned after I showed no discernable talent that first year. The results of that decision have been the reason I have landed every scholarship, every internship, every job I've had since.

The third Switchpoint came when I moved to the DC area at the ripe old age of 20. I came for a semester and stayed for a lifetime - or so it seems now, given everything that happened in my life in the ensuing 9 years. I took a break from college and took a job, seeking adventure, freedom and the ability to become someone I could never become in the confines of my home state. I wanted to create myself, not be forever defined by the people with whom I had grown up. I wanted to be sophisticated, confident, knowledgeable beyond what I could find at home.

It was just as alluring as it was the first time, and I was quickly intoxicated by everything to do with my new life - the DC area, the history, the power, the politics, my friends, my freedom, the vast world that stretched beyond me. It led me to one of my best friends, Shaliece, which led me to Himself, to my marriage 4 1/2 years later, to the life I now lead. Like the decision to join the debate team, my move to suburban Maryland 9 years ago is ultimately responsible for everything else that has happened since.

As I neared the end of my walk, I realized that my move to The Frontier was the result of another Switchpoint, which occurred in the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve 2006, when the second line unexpectedly showed up on the test and my world changed forever. While I didn't realize it at the time, that line would be responsible over the ensuing months for every major decision Himself and I made. Decisions that ultimately led us to leaving my beloved city behind and returning to The Frontier.

Four times have I come to a Switchpoint in life, completely oblivious to what lay in the path before me, content to set off down a road that seemed intriguing. Each time, the result has brought a rich tapestry of hapiness, tempered by a little sorrow, and a stunning array of opportunities, experiences, friends and cherished memories. Four times have those Switchpoints proven to be powerfully positive, though some required more pain and sacrifice than others.

I have 16 days until Baby Girl is due to arrive (according to the all-knowing-estimated-due-date-chart). Sixteen days until the potential Switchpoint #5 - when the doctors will place her in my arms and life will change all over again. For the first time, I am seeing the crossroads before I arrive, and it is a bit daunting.

I wonder where the rest of my life will take me ...