Bryce has been in Texas for the last few weeks. I have been staying with my parents in Ekalaka while he is gone. I am taking online classes and it has been nice to be with my Mom and Dad, but I can't deny that these past few months have been a little terrible. For those "med school wives" out there that are reading this, you know what I mean.
Here is a short explanation of how the last 5 months have been for the Jolley Family. Bryce is now a 4th year med student. The whole 4th year consists of the students doing externships. They go from state to state, hospital to hospital, working and learning alongside resident podiatrist and attending doctors. All of the externships are 4 weeks long, except one that last 4 months. Bryce has been to many places, and I was lucky enough to go with him to one of those many. He started the year in Tacoma Washington. He was there from end of May through September. I was able to spend June-August there with him. Then I went to Idaho to start a new semester of school in Rexburg. I have been living the past 4 months in Shelley and traveling to school in Rexburg. From Washington, Bryce headed to Greeley Colorado. He stayed there for a month then he was off to Tucson Arizona. From Arizona he ventured into Albuquerque New Mexico and then finally off to Temple Texas.
Now, I did get to see him in between his stays for a few days at a time. He was able to visit @ Halloween for a few days, then @ Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each time he left, I was more sad than the last. I would dream of him being next to me in the bed and wake up thinking he was there only to reach over to a cold, empty pillow. I am making this dramatic, yes. But, I was definitely lonely. Even though I was surrounded by a loving family. My suffering must have been small compared to Bryce. He has never said this out loud, but I know he has been lonely. His accommodations have ranged from small hotel rooms to apartments resident to giant cockroaches. He has been living out of a suitcase now for nearly 9 months and he has no one to come home to at night besides his computer and an occasional redbox movie. Needless to say, we are happy that his travels are nearing a close.
He left Texas yesterday headed due north to Ekalaka Montana. I have never been more anxious to see him than I have been in the last few days. It has been beautiful weather in Ekalaka since I have been here. 35-50 degrees and sunshine. Accumulated snow has started to melt and my parents and I have been free to travel to surrounding cities to shop and have a good time when we wanted. However, luck is not a lady we are on good terms with. She sent us a "stormy" reminder of that this weekend.
The day Bryce set off on his 24 hour trek to Montana, a storm of perilous proportions smothered us in its terror. It's as if an unseen warden is holding us all captive in a prison of unpenetrating white. Tell of the storm had reached our ears days before and it was like waiting for the "sleeping giant" to awaken. It began with darkened skies and darkened homes. Surrounding Ekalaka, fog and ice had accumulated on power lines and cut off power supply to many. But, no snow. Just wind. It howled for days like a lost pup. I was praying for the snow to hold off until Bryce made his way safely to my parents driveway. Mother Nature sometimes doesn't seem to hear those prayers. Last night the wind became ferocious and then came the white. A sheet of white. I awoke to look out my window and the class was nearly covered in snow. I could only see through small peepholes into the blizzard outdoors. Whoa. Yes, Whoa.
I've seen winter storms. Living most my life in the wilds of Wyoming and Montana, I have been witness to some pretty fantastic displays of winter weather. But, I can't recall a storm like this. Its not just the impressive amount of snow that is coming from above, but the 40+ mile an hour wind makes it awesome to behold. We sit in the house and it sounds as if we are in a wind tunnel. Whooooosh - Swissssshhhhh - Hooooooooofah, is the song Mother Nature sings to us. What a sight.
The storm, sadly, is very isolated over our part of the state. Bryce is now sitting in a Motel 6, a mere 130 miles away from us, and is witness to nothing but gray skies and small gusts. It was very, VERY difficult to convince him of the peril traveling to Ekalaka at this time would be. I spent all of last night and today persuading him to stay where he is and wait it out till this wolf blows its last huff and puff. Its a fact of life that wive are worriers, but I am a TERRIBLE worrier when it comes to travel in the winter. Winter travel hasn't, to put it lightly, our friend the past few years. We have come through blizzards, ice, and hit deer. We always seem to make it where we are going, but it never is a treat. It just seems our lot to get into the eye of the storm wherever we go from October to March.
Okay, that wasn't a short version of anything. But, a good outlet of emotion. I hope to see Bryce sometime tomorrow, but he may be a guest of Motel 6 for a few days before we are able to be reunited again. At least I can find comfort in that Motel six always leaves the light on for ya.
