South on Hillsboro Road

The collapse of my marriage was a scary time. I don't really remember at times driving from Point A to B. I had so much weighing me down, so many worries, so much pain and sadness. I didn't know where my our lives were heading and I have never felt so lost and alone. I would be overwhelmed by the fact that all my daughter had to get her through life was simply me. The thought paralyzed me at times.

I turned to my mother for refuge and we moved in with her for a brief time. To get to her house was a one shot deal south down Hillsboro Road. I would drive out of the Vanderbilt enclave, cross I-440, run the gauntlet of traffic through afternoon rush hour of Green Hills, meander through Forest Hills and make a brief appearance in Brentwood as I crossed Old Hickory Blvd. Passing the Forest Hills Baptist Church meant I was almost home free from all the issues chasing me. So many times I would pass the sign marking the Williamson County line and I would breathe a sigh of relief, I could escape into the lush, green hills of forest and fields and no one could find me.

Her neighborhood felt safe for me and I would retreat upstairs to the second floor and just "be" in one of her two guest rooms. I did this for months. We slowly began getting back out in the world, but I never ventured far from this radius off Hillsboro Road.

After a few months passed we moved to another area for a brief period of time - this time to the neighborhood I had grown up in. It still felt like home and I would do tours of the old high school stomping grounds, take my daughter to the park I used to play in and I rekindled some old friendships and visited with a lot of my friends' moms that I ran into in the grocery store. I even drove by the home of my high school sweetheart a time or two for the comfort it gave me. I came to realize that I had outgrown this part of town and moved on.

I quickly found my way back down Hillsboro and bought a home of my own and settled us in a spot close to my mom. At the close of each work day, I brighten when my commute takes me past the sign announcing my entry into Williamson County. I say my prayers regularly and give thanks for our safe home, school and "village" as my little one calls it. I rarely drive the interstates anymore - I have no reason to - going South on Hillsboro Road leads me to all the places I need to go - including the most important place - home.