Step back in time with me. December 31, 1991. New Year’s Eve. My father is getting remarried to a woman I’ve never met. And she has a daughter from a previous marriage. So, naturally I have to be there. I met her and her daughter. And while I can’t say that the bond was instant, she was a cute kid. I think she was about 7 or 8 at the time. Her name is Michelle. Since I was raised with no true full blood siblings (I have a half brother and a step brother), it was easy for me to just drop the “step” and call her sister.
For the next two summers I will spend some of my vacation in Texas getting to know the family. I will see my sister a handful of times during the course of the next twelve years. She grows up having two older brothers that she barely knows. And yet we always consider each other family.
Notice, I said twelve years. In November, 2003, I lost my job in San Antonio (the details aren’t really important anymore). My father and his wife opened their home and let me move in so I could go to school. It was a whole new dynamic. I was a stranger to these people. And now I had to learn to live with them. This was especially trying when it came to my sister.
Michelle and I are two very different people with very different upbringings. It was not uncommon in my mother’s home to verbally attack one another. For my brother and me, it was more often physical. That doesn’t go over too well with Michelle. She was raised in a relatively calm home. What stress there was could usually be dealt with in a quiet and calm manner. That’s not what I’m used to. I’m used to yelling obscenities to get someone’s attention and then lashing out. Michelle couldn’t handle me.
Over the course of the next several months, we had some interesting and terrible arguments. We both said things to each other that hurt deeper than I would have thought possible. At one point, it got so bad that Michelle and her mom quit talking to me altogether. They wouldn’t be in the same room with me. Michelle was afraid of me. I’m ashamed of this. It’s something I’ll never forgive myself for. After a few sit downs, and some new ground rules, we were able to over come this difficult part of our lives. It’s hard for me to say it wasn’t worth it, because the end result is truly wonderful. But I do regret going down that road to get here.
So Michelle and I bonded, and got very close to one another. We are often each other’s rock in difficult times. And I really wouldn’t want it any other way.
Fast forward to Fall 2005. I’m in my last semester of school and quickly having to decide what to do when it’s all done. Michelle, on the other hand, is just getting started in an entirely new program. Little does she know that this change is only one of many that are about to hit her like a hurricane. The good news is that this semester goes well Michelle, as far as school goes. She pulls all A’s and B’s. She is truly enjoying her new path. Her creative tendencies have really had a chance to shine through. But the turmoil has just begun.
At the same time, Michelle’s mom had been having issues at work. It was becoming increasingly frustrating just to go in everyday. This was magnified when her good friend and supervisor, Amy, took another job in Austin. Eventually, it would lead to her deciding to leave the company and look for work elsewhere. Elsewhere became Austin when an unexpected invitation came along to relocate there and work with Amy again. The dynamic would be different but she would be somewhere she could be happy again. She took the position. In January 2006, she left home and moved in with a cousin in the Austin area. She began work and has never looked back.
The downside, of course, is she had to leave her husband, daughter, mother, and grandmother behind. Naturally, my father will eventually move up there as well. But they have to first sell the house. No small task in today’s market. So, they have to live apart, for the first time in 15 years together. And Michelle is without her mom, and feeling very down about it.
Ok, let’s step out of the timeline just a bit. At some point, Michelle decided that she loves Australia. She has a friend that lives there and she wants to go visit and possibly even move there. This led to a plan to have Michelle and Cole (you’ll meet her soon enough) move to Australia to live with Anna. Plans like this require a lot of work and sacrifice, and the smallest of things can throw them off kilter. Turns out, a small thing indeed did interfere.
Over the course of the last 8 years or so, Michelle has been pining for the "love of her life." JT is a friend from her high school that unexpectedly moved to Houston with his family. Their relationship unresolved, she has always had him in the back of her head. This eventually led to her actively pursuing a relationship with him. I’d guess you’d have to call this a slow build up. It took a year and more of IM, phone calls, and road trips to Houston to really get anywhere close to what she ultimately wanted from him. The relationship was hot/cold for the whole time, and she was getting very frustrated. This leads us back to this year. Spring break 2006. Michelle decided to split her time between visiting JT in Houston, and her mom in Austin. I was also on the list of visits but only for a night. Things in Houston did not go as planned and she ended up staying with me a few days extra.
At some point during their talks Michelle started thinking about staying in Texas. Possibly Houston or Austin. The incident during spring break essentially removed Houston for the equation. She only considered it because of JT. He is gone, so goes out Houston. So it’s very likely she will want to move here, to Austin. It’s a safer place to start a new life. She has family already here. And more coming. There is something to be said for a support network.
With all this drama in her life it’s amazing she has room for anything else. Did I mention her other family? Her biological father has not been a positive influence in her life. In fact she often thinks of my father as her dad, since essentially he raised her. Her stepmother is tolerable on her good days, a real bitch the other 360 days of the year. Her younger sisters have issues all their own. This has led to a more recent distancing of herself from her father. It’s particularly hard since her stepmom has been her workout buddy and she still wants to be there for her sisters.
And then, something good happened. Michelle’s father has been given a job in Maryland. This means the whole lot of them is leaving. Her father is already gone, and his wife and kids won’t be too far behind. While it is unfortunate that the girls will be gone, it is better for Michelle in the long run. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the girls make it back to Texas as soon as possible.
Michelle has also recently started “talking” to a guy she’s known for a while and things seem to be heating up between them. So while love has not always been kind to her, she has landed what looks to be a promising future beau.
As another bright point in the night, Michelle has recently cemented her desire to move to Austin. The decision stems from several motivating factors, some of which I’ve mentioned already, some of which are solely her business. It is this decision and its fallout that has led us to this point. Michelle wants to move here. I’m looking to get a bigger place, possibly with roommate/s. So, I have invited her to live with me when she comes up here. We’ll share the rent, bills, etc. It will allow her the freedom of not relying on her Mom and Dad, as well as the security of having someone she knows and trusts beside her to make sure she doesn’t fall on her face (this can be read in a few ways … they all apply). And it affords me the opportunity to not be stretched so thin, while still maintaining a sense of independence that I was lacking these last 2 years.
Now. I know what some of you are thinking. “I thought this was going to be about FRIENDS moving to Austin and living together?” Well, it is. And I’ll prove it. Firstly, Michelle, while being my sister, is also one of my closest friends. She really is a rock for me. And I hope she feels the same about me. Secondly, this isn’t the end of the back story. There is more to come still. And with it, the rest of the cast.
More soon to come ...
-C- *Author's Note:* The timeline presented here is as accurate as I can make it.
Since I'm having to go mainly from memory, things sometimes get a little off.
Please, bear with me.
