08. A day you felt most satisfied with your life.
I was sitting on the plane in seat 1C and holding back tears.
I looked to my right and my dad was there, looking out the window.
I had cried so hard in the days prior, I felt like I had a hangover.
There were so many thoughts running through my head, it hurt.
.... CALI HERE WE COME!! What on earth am I thinking? Seriously, I must be an idiot. I have everything a girl could want and I'm just going to move 2,000 miles away? Thank God high school is over! Why is dad so calm? What if I don't like California? Shouldn't he be crying? I don't know how to do laundry! Did I pack everything? Here come the tears again, breathe, breathe. Phew. College is going to be just like that movie Legally Blonde,VACAY!!! I can't believe we had that much trouble with my flight, what if that's a sign? Dad, really, nothing? Oh God, I hope college isn't anything like that movie Van Wilder. Seriously, it had to be sign. Still, nothing? This guy is a pro. Oh I love these pretzel snacks! Can't they fly faster?! It'll hit ya old man. You'll miss me. These portions really should be bigger, I didn't ask for a bag of air! I'm going to miss him more. Okay, I can't fight these tears. WAIT! I'm not ready! Turn around! Take me back! What am I doing? Dad, help!....
It was August 1st, 2009. I was moving away from home. I was leaving everything. My entire life. 18 years of memories. My family. Dinner at the kitchen table every night. My brothers. My friends. All in hopes of finding a new life, a new everything. I didn't know it then or even a week or month later, but that was the greatest thing I could have ever done for myself and my life. I'm happy to report that college was nothing like Legally Blonde or Van Wilder, though some might argue that friends I met along the way would fit in perfectly with the cast of either movie. California was nothing short of my greatest adventure. It was everything I needed it to be and nothing I expected.
I am so proud to say that I took a risk, that I did something really hard and altogether terrifying. I am also proud to say that in doing so I learned more about myself then I had in all 18 years I spent at home. It was a lot of fun. I got to redefine and recreate Kelci Eppel, I suddenly wasn't someone's sister or girlfriend, I was just me. (First semester I was also referenced as the birthday girl, thanks to my awesome 19th birthday party that was the biggest on campus that year!) I also got to be a student, a cheerleader, a co-captain, a best friend, a wild child, an assistant manager, a 2 am brownie maker, a giver, a roommate, an artist, a cat mom, a new believer, and a survivor. I got to be a part of a man's last journey. I learned that I had a voice and one hell of a story. And all of this thanks to the girl who had enough courage to get on a plane on August 1st, 2009 and take a giant leap of faith; only to find everything she'd been searching for.
Herself.
There is no greater satisfaction then looking in the mirror and loving everything about the person you see.
The secret to having everything is knowing that you already do,
K&M
