I'll be living where next year?

Greetings, from Tucson, Arizona! Where the air is dry, the weather is radiant, and I can see mountains from any direction.

According to my iPhone it's currently 75 degrees here in the sunny southwest. In the polar Midwest, it's a surprisingly high 18 degrees. You guys have fun with that.

I'm sure most of you know who I am. If not, I'm that girl you're praying for at church. It's been a rough four years, but nothing intolerable. I can tell you now it wouldn't be possible if I hadn't had the community that I grew up in. I have received so many cards and e-mails (all of which I saved) that it truly helps with healing. Unfortunately, I'm not always on top of things so I don't get a reply back to most of you. So here I am. Writing this column to keep all of you updated with how things are going, what's coming next, and explaining the past 51 months.

If you haven't heard from my grandmother or my mother, yes, I currently reside in Tucson, Arizona: 3201 East Fort Lowell, apartment 2074 to be exact. I live with my crazy dog, Lily, in a 463-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment. I pay $550 a month just for rent. I'm not in Missouri anymore.

But you're probably still wondering, "Jennifer, how did you end up all the way out there? Are you all alone?" No, I'm not alone. I have Lily, the most amazing friends who you will hear much more about, and my best friend in the entire world: my sister.

Stacy and her husband Matt moved out here two weeks after they got married in October 2007. For my Christmas present that year Mom and Dad bought me a plane ticket to Tucson. Stacy and I flew out of KCI airport on New Years Eve 2007. I'm not sure if there was a time I needed a vacation more. I wasn't in a sling. I wasn't in a wheelchair. I wasn't on crutches. I needed a vacation. We had magnificent plans to go out on the town. I had a new sequin dress and Kelly green paten peep toe pumps. We were ready.

Our flight departing Kansas City was late leaving, causing us to miss our connecting flight in Salt Lake City. We ended up spending the next five hours sprawled out on the floor of the C terminal at the great Salt Lake City International Airport to arrive in Tucson at 11:37 p.m., on New Year's Eve. I must add that the time spent wasn't wasted. I also received the second greatest Christmas present ever (the Tucson trip being number one). Stacy someway, somehow found the entire series of "Hey Dude" on DVD from some guy on the Internet. He was the "owner of many companies." We grew up watching "Hey Dude" at our grandma and grandpa Grahams in the back bedroom. (The show was actually filmed in Tucson!)

The part of our vacation in Salt Lake City wasn't complete until I lost my cell phone right before we got on the plane. Now, some people may take these few events as signs that this vacation wasn't going to be all that I had planned. But as I have learned in the last couple years: Don't sweat the small stuff.

We ended up getting to Stacy and Matt's house a couple minutes before midnight. We changed into our sweatpants and popped a bottle of $5 champagne. We went to bed shortly after.

During the week I spent there, we managed to go to the zoo, see all three malls in Tucson, explore the greatest used book store in the world, hunt for the old abandoned set of "Hey Dude," and go on a horseback ride at sunset through the Catalina mountains. I had no idea that horseback ride would change my life in so many ways. It was that day at sunset when I told my sister that I was moving out here. I don't know if she knew just how serious I was at that moment.

At the end of the week I had never felt so right in my life. I don't know if it was the 5-percent humidity or the adrenaline from the week I had just experienced. I had totally forgotten to think if my knees and hips could handle whatever I was about to conquer. It was amazing. I felt like a normal 21 year old girl. This was something I had never felt before.

At the conclusion of the trip, it ended up being everything I had dreamed of and more.

My sister and I were a mountain of emotion at the airport. We were the people bawling our eyes out and hugging for half an hour before we let go. I had never felt more joy, love, passion, anger, agony, and despondency in my life. It couldn't compare to any surgery or wrestling match. I was ready to cancel my flight home and have my parents ship all my personal belongings to me. Stacy finally got me through security by telling me I had to go back to Missouri because that's where Mom and Dad needed me. I would be back, and I wouldn't have to ever feel like I was going to the wrong place again. I knew that Tucson is where I needed to be. This was where my home was.

In the end, I left mom and dad and my family back home. I left Mizzou. I left wrestling. I left my friends. I left my doctors. I left Nevada. I was ready to completely start over. I wanted to get back the years I never had in college. I wanted to be a typical kid my age.

But if you were to tell me on Dec. 31, 2007, that I would spend my next New Year's Day with the greatest friends I've ever had, I probably wouldn't had believed you.

Editor's note: This column was written in mid January when the weather was much colder. Jennifer's column will normally run on Thursdays, alternating with Pat Brophy.