I haven’t much considered what comes after an “if not” statement. I don’t think I’ve been willing to accept any form of forward motion other than going back to Iowa, and so I’ve considered the only other option living here. I shouldn’t need to say that that would be high on my list of worst-case scenarios, but I’m still surprised by the support that I receive from the people around me.

While my parents and I were helping Ann and Kurt pack up everything they owned last week for their move back to Colorado, Kurt and I went to a hardware store. In the car, he told me that he and Ann had been discussing my situation, and that if it turned out that my parents wouldn’t pay for my schooling and I couldn’t afford to pay for it myself, they recognized that staying at home probably was neither what I wanted nor in my best interests, and offered to help me get set up to live in Fort Collins. While I still want desperately to return to Iowa, at least now there’s an alternative which actually sounds exciting.