She took a train to St. Louis.
Slept on friends' floors for six nights
and in a library cradle for a day.
Then hopped a plane to Tennessee,
to sleep on a couch in a loft apartment
named Sterchi.
Then drove to North Carolina,
to sleep on a bed in a cheap motel.
Tomorrow,
she takes a plane back to her hometown,
to end her vagrant days for good.
Over the last year and a half, she has been jumping from one home to another.
From Austin to Dallas
to Tulsa to Plano to Denton
to touring the Western U.S..
Jumping from one place to another
and never staying more than a couple months
in any one location.
Although her physical place of existence was never stable,
her mind was set.
This was her life,
to be by her mother's side,
forever and always.
Her mom once pleaded to her,
on a plane ride to Tulsa,
"I'm so sorry you had to put your life on hold for me. Please,
I don't want to be a burden to you."
She simply responded, "Mom, do not worry,
This is my life."
This was her initial reaction.
She didn't even realize what her response fully meant,
but it was probably
the most sincere and genuine thing
that she had ever said.
She could only hope that her mom understood her sincerity,
and the amount of love
and truth
and care
that was delivered with that statement;
The underlying notion that
she was here for her mom,
always and forever.
No matter where her life took her physically,
she would always be
here for her mom.
Even when her mom was not physically by her side,
she still held her close.
But now her physical self will soon be stable,
but she's starting to lose footing emotionally.
She'll be living physically at home,
but without her mother,
it is not fully home;
not in her mind at least.
So now,
the physical vagrant goes home,
but her mind is about to travel.
