Change
Last Sunday (5/23/2021), I pulled up to Marshall's house. After a quick lunch, we started packing his belongings into our cars. When we had gotten ourselves situated, Marshall sent me the address just in case I lost him, and we began a long drive to Cincinnati.
Marshall and I met each other in the spring of 2018 through my "sisters," but he and I didn't become my best friend until late 2019. We spent the early months of 2020 doing everything together. The plan was for Marshall to remain in Columbus and graduate from The Ohio State University. I was excited about that plan because it meant that he would stay in town for at least another three years. When COVID-19 hit, I knew things would change, but I didn't expect it to change the plan.
During the pandemic, Marshall got a summer job in Montrose, Colorado, at Battelle. He ran one of Battelle Memorial Institutes Critical Care Decontamination Systems, which removed contaminates from N95 masks. Because of his experience with Battelle, Marshall got hired at P&G in Cincinnati when he returned to Ohio. Ever since he got back, he has been taking the daily trip from Columbus to Cincinnati for work. Realistically it just made more sense for him to move to Cincinnati and finish school there.
We ended up going to a park with a vast lake. Since we didn't have time to explore the whole thing, Marshall started explaining the layout. As we walked through the park, we saw a sign announcing that there would be some landscaping done in the park. The top of the sign read, "Changes are Coming!"
We laughed because of how appropriate the sign was for what was going on. As I thought more about the sign, I started to do a little self-reflection, and I realized I'm proud of myself. When I began Rules for a Greattastic Life, my "sister" Arden had just moved to Colorado, and my "sister" August was planning to move permanently as well. I've never been good with change, and those two significant changes deeply affected me and took up a lot of my focus in Season 1.
I think I'm more okay with Marshall's move for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it's been a couple of years since all of that started. For another, since Marshall has been making the drive to Cincinnati daily for the better part of a year, so I know he will continue to come back to Columbus. Also, I now know I can make the drive there. I'm happy that I am getting better at accepting change!
Have a Greattastic day and be safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
Book update: I have been trying to get the e-book version of The Greattastic Adventures: Miracle Child out for the last month, but I have been running into some technical difficulties. My family is going to Florida later in June so on the drive my brother Josh and I are going to figure out what's going on! Once I have finished the ebook I am planning to have a book signing. Thank you for your patience!
