There are many milestones that are celebrated throughout life.

Turning fifteen: and getting your learner’s permit. Wow…that was a bad picture.

Driving to school for the first time after you turned sixteen, and getting your license. Wow…my parking skills needed work.

Tossing your cap on graduation day. Wow…that day seems so long ago.

Moving into the college dormitory for the first time. Wow…that was a legendary fight with my parents.

But those are just moments and milestones that society has deemed important. What about the accidentally monumental milestones. Like that night you stayed up all night dancing, then ended up at waffle house. Wow…it was a struggle to stay awake during class the next day.

Looking back on the moment you met your best friend: back when you had no idea that one day she would be your maid of honor. Tripping outside the cafeteria because looking at that cute boy seemed more important at the time. What about the scars that life has left upon your body and soul that tell the story of your life?

I know that for me reminiscing can go either way: whether good or bad, but when I’m driving I can never help myself. So, today while I was making a two-hour trip each way to visit my cousin, I had plenty of time to ruminate on the past. The sad times of saying goodbye to loved ones, to the bittersweet memories of struggling to go out on my own, and the joyful times of coming home.

The shell shocking moment of realizing I had been home the whole time because home is where the heart is, and we carry memories of our different home with us everywhere we go, making each current place home. However, this time the memories didn’t stop with the present, but rather my imagination sparked to life at the thought of where I have been to dreaming of where I am going. Traveling, grad school, and building a life: combining the family that I have found here and combining it with the family I will find along my way! It was this sense of hopeful excitement that brought on my epiphany. A moment of sudden revelation and insight. I am right where I need to be.

With the friends that I will not only celebrate walking across the graduation stage with, but standing together at our wedding days. Supported by a family that loves me unconditionally, and encourages me to follow my dreams. I had a moment of gratefulness for the life that I have lead, trials and tribulations to boot! An epiphany that life is what you make it, so make it your own. An epiphany than many before me have had, but I just suddenly knew to be true.