I’m Going Home

By Cheri Roberts, Cheri Speak & Challenging the Rhetoric

It has been nearly two-years since I moved away from Oregon. When I left it tore me up for so many reasons. First and foremost because my kids are there. Although they are all adults, I hate to be so far from them. We are close in heart where it matters, but proximity is something I have craved since the first hundred miles separated us as that Greyhound drove away.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

View looking to the right from the deck

Oregon is the only state I’ve ever felt a true affinity with. I grew up in Colorado, spent summers in Southern California, had a couple of odd pauses in Arizona and a few other random stops. It wasn’t until I was an adult with three kids that I visited Oregon for the first time. I immediately felt ‘home’ and that feeling has never wavered.

I have had to leave Oregon three times since that first trip and each time, I left a part of me behind. The last time I left I swore I’d come back as soon as I could and although it has taken me much longer than I had hoped expected … I am ready [and able] to go ‘home’. What’s more is, I am going home. Finally.

Plans & Preparations

View of my private doc looking straight ahead from the deck

Leaving California has been the goal each time I have been here. I can’t say why exactly, but I simply have always hated living in California, regardless of where in the state I lived, but especially when it’s been in this God-forsaken desert I hate so much.

I just returned from a week in Oregon making the arrangements. Papers were signed, money was paid and now I have a lot to do because I return to Oregon next month and move into a sweet lil 2-bedroom, 2-bath house on a beautiful river. The house comes with a private dock and is only four-miles to the Oregon coast. I am still having a hard time believing it’s actually happening and there is currently no one near to pinch me, but it’s all true!

I will have to have a land-line and use satellite internet, but my blog, Cheri Speak, and my show, Challenging the Rhetoric, will continue on as usual. In addition I will be focusing on completing both of my books.

There’s Health And There’s Health

View looking to the right from sliding glass to deck

I know some of you may be wondering what will happen with me and the cancer. I have had tremendous obstacles since my diagnosis. The medical community for people who are poor is abhorrent and I have been tossed around like so much flotsam and jetsam. I have had it. The stress it has caused me cannot be healthy and I believe it is only exacerbating the issues. I am in the process of getting private insurance and will be able to share more on that later when I have further details. Suffice it to say, I am walking away from California’s so-called health plan and starting anew. In the interim I have continued to juice, take various supplements alleged to help cancer and kidneys and of course Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) as I can acquire it.

The best medicine I can give myself is this new endeavor. Having a stress-free environment and a stable home in a beautiful place surrounded by nature is in order. And if things should take a turn for the worse, I cannot imagine a better more serene place to spend whatever time was allotted me.

Beginnings & Endings

View from upstairs bedroom

There is a very long chapter of my life that I’ve been unable to turn the page on … until now.

Goodbyes that were once stuck in my throat are now ready to slip from my lips. I finally realized I have to turn  that page in order to continue this story that is my life. I now understand that doing that doesn’t mean the previous pages never existed. Those pages, however dog-eared, will always be there for me to look back on with love.

I have family in California that I care about. My dad is here and he isn’t getting any younger. I have brothers here as well. This past year particularly I have had a chance to spend time with and reconnect with a few of my brothers which really meant a lot to me. My sister-in-law, my nephews and nieces are also loved and all will be missed … but …

… California just isn’t my home.

Oregon? Here I come!

Dreams do come true.