Written in 2012 and being published exactly 18 years after I landed.
Coming home to Gilbert, Arizona.
If you’ve heard me say “Gilbert is my heart’s home,” here’s the story.
At the age of nineteen, this Florida native was growing restless. The Dixie Chicks hit “Wide Open Spaces” was all over the radio and it felt like it was written just for me. I needed to find a dream and a life of my own. I needed room to make my big mistakes.
My dream did indeed take the shape of a place out west and that wide open space my heart was longing for turned out to be Gilbert, Arizona.
In 1998, I relocated from Jacksonville, Florida to Gilbert with my parents, leaving behind my friends, family and the only home I’d ever known.
After living in the city for ten years, the sights and smells of the Gilbert farmland took me back to my childhood in rural Florida. I didn’t miss all the green because the lack of tress meant that I was always surrounded by wide open sky.
I felt like I could finally breathe again.
I didn’t miss the beach either because everywhere I looked, there were mountains. Watching my first haboob roll in over the San Tan Mountains was just as exciting as any Florida hurricane had ever been.
I spent my first two years in Arizona in the town of Gilbert. My passion for supporting small business owners was ignited in downtown Gilbert when I wandered into Ink It! (a paper crafts store) and realized that the store was owned by a mother and daughter team. I thought that a mother and daughter owning their own store was so cool. Around the same time, I got a job at a Hallmark store near my house and discovered the highs and lows of small business ownership first hand. I started preaching to anyone who would listen about the importance of supporting local small businesses instead of shopping at big box retailers and my zeal has continued to develop ever since.
In the meantime, I obtained my AA degree from Chandler Gilbert Community College. Besides the English and communication classes that I absorbed like a sponge, I took a geology class that afforded me the opportunity to explore our amazing state. I was blown away by Sunset Crater, Montezuma’s Well, the lava tubes outside of Flagstaff and of course the Grand Canyon. Arizona was definitely the best remedy for my restlessness.
From 2000 to 2011, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in education, got married, taught 4th grade and started a family while residing in Phoenix, Paradise Valley and Avondale, respectively.
I did come back to Gilbert in 2002 to get married at the Shenandoah Mill. Having my wedding in Gilbert just felt right.
In 2011, my heart was ready for another change. My boys were older, I wanted to start working again and I wanted to go back to the east valley and live near my parents. I wanted to go home.
So in July 2011, my husband, two sons and I headed back to the Chandler/Gilbert area. I barely recognize CGCC now, the amount of new neighborhoods and shopping centers is staggering, and the historic downtown area has certainly changed in 13 years.
But, when I’m driving at night with the windows down after a monsoon, I can still smell that familiar farm smell and it makes me heave a contended sigh.
Now my job is doing what I love most: writing. In launching my business, it was easy to decide who I wanted to work with: small business owners. I feel incredibly blessed to be back in the east valley with my family, doing what I love in the place that I love. When I joined the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce last week, it hit me that in a lot of ways, my life has come full circle.
And I have to tell you, it’s good to be home.
2016 UPDATE
It wasn’t long after joining the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce in 2012 that I found myself back at Chandler-Gilbert Community College teaching a “Blogging for Business” class at the Small Business Expo. It was truly a dream come true to be back on campus, teaching something I love. I had envisioned myself there teaching English but life surprises you sometimes, doesn’t it?
I met many people through that event that remain friends and cohorts today. Being a part of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce has been a tremendous blessing in my life and the people are truly world class.
I am able to support small business by hosting an annual Downtown Gilbert Shop Hop on Small Business Saturday every year. In 2015, it happened to fall on my birthday. We started at Bergie’s (where I’d had tea with my mom and grandmother before my wedding in 2002 when it was a tea room) where I was serenaded while wearing my tiara. The day included pink champagne and ended at the Gilbert Historical Museum. That day was truly one of the best days of my life.
Now I am blessed to be serving for the second year as the Gilbert Historical Society board secretary and at every meeting, I’m reminded that Gilbert will always be my heart’s home. I am blessed to be honoring the past while helping move into the future so our kids can play and serve in Gilbert, too.
My heart is simply happier in Gilbert, Arizona. I know it’s where I belong.
I’m still finding my way when it comes to my “business” and someday soon, I hope to do a lot more with the chamber and with the town of Gilbert.
I have big dreams of a collaborative work space for creatives and entrepreneurs in downtown Gilbert. I want to do more with my writing, too. I’m also committed to helping the Gilbert Historical Society keep their projects moving forward.
The bottom line is, Gilbert is my heart’s home and that will never change. 18 years later, I heart Gilbert more than ever. Stay tuned…the best is yet to come.
Here’s “Wide Open Space” if you want to hear it.
CRAZY SIDE NOTE…this song was playing over the loud speakers when we toured the Shenandoah Mill to check it out as a possible wedding venue. True story.
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