Physical Therapy

“Roxy, come on! What are you doing up there?” My sister Sarah yelled from down stairs.

Right now I am in my old room, in my old house about to leave sunny Florida for Pittsburgh. I’m not entirely sure why Pittsburgh but I need a change in my life and I have always wanted to live up north.

“I’ll be down in a minute!” saying goodbye is harder than I expected. I would miss this place because it is where I grew up and this is all I know. But I am determined to make a name for myself and leaving is the only chance I have.

I am excited to move to Pittsburgh but I am not excited for the 2 day drive up there. Stuck in a car with my sister for two days…not my idea of fun, but who knows it could be fun, right?

Not saying my sister isn’t fun but she can be uptight at times. She is coming with me because she got a job as sports marketer for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and to say she is excited is the understatement of the year. They are her favorite hockey team in the world and she is in love with Sidney Crosby…like in love, in love. I’m not sure what she would do if she ever met him.

“What took you so long?” she said in a exasperated tone.

“I was just saying goodbye, is that a crime?” I said sarcastically.

“Well we need to get on the road if we want to get halfway today.”

“Okay. Let’s just say bye to mom and dad then we will be on our way.” I said sadly. I didn’t really want to leave my parents behind but I needed to get out of this town now or I was going to be stuck here for the rest of my life.

“Mom, Dad? We are leaving now!” Sarah shouted through the house even though it was 6am. Another reason I am not in that great of a mood…I am NOT a morning person at all.

“Oh, my girls off on their own, living in a big city by themselves.” Mom cooed as if we were babies all over again.

“Mom, we are not two. We are grown adults.” I said

My dad just stood there like he would rather be in bed but hugged us and wished us luck like any good dad would.

“Love you too dad and we will call when we get to the hotel tonight and when we get there tomorrow.” Sarah said

“Good girls” dad said, “now get out of here if you want to make it to Knoxville by tonight.”

“Okay we are out of here” I say and after one more hug and a kisses on the cheek we are off on a new adventure.
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Later that night, after switching driver’s hours before, I pulled into the hotel parking lot and parked before going inside and checking in. All I wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed. After checking in and getting our overnight bags upstairs and taking a shower I was out before my head hit the pillow.
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The next day as another early one much to my dismay.

“Get your ass up! We need to get on the road!” Sarah practically yelled in my ear.

“NO! It’s too early” I mumbled pulling the pillow over my head.

“Get up or no coffee and you’re driving” she threatened

“Not only is that a threat to me but it is also a threat to yourself, you know what I am like without my coffee.” I said getting up and stretching.

“Yeah, I’ll take my chances” she said while pulling my covers off

“Alright, I’m up, I’m up” I said sleepily

After getting dressed, getting breakfast and my coffee we were on the road again and this time me starting the day off driving.
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Finally after what felt like forever we were entering the bustling city of Pittsburgh!!!

“WOW” we both said at the same time looking around.

“This is amazing, I love it already” I said in amazement.

“Let’s go to the apartment and settle in before anything else” Sarah said.

“Our stuff should be there, right?” I asked

“Should be” she said

“Good, maybe we could just unpack a little and order some takeout tonight?” I suggested

“Yeah that sounds good. I don’t really feel like going out either, not tonight.” She said

Getting around Pittsburgh was easier than I thought. I was expecting traffic for days and angry drivers but we saw none of that. We found our apartment easy and parked. We made it upstairs and found our new apartment full of boxes and some furniture. We needed the big furniture like bed frames and a couch and a T.V. but we had everything else. So we started sorting boxes into the appropriate rooms and then started unpacking.

“UGH! I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!!” I yelled from my new room.

“It’s been like an hour since we got here, you can’t give up yet.” Sarah said from the doorway.

“But it’s so boring” I complained

“Fine I know what we can talk about” she said

“What?” happy to change the subject.

“Where are you going to be working while we’re here?” she asked

“I don’t know, do we have to talk about this now?” I asked not wanting to talk about it.

“Your fresh out of college,” she started on a long speech

“Yeah, so who’s going to hire me with no experience?” I interrupted her.

“You never know, just put out your resume and let the chips fall where they may.”

And with that advice I decided the next day would be spent mailing out resumes to local hospitals and clinics who were looking for physical therapists.