Words of Wisdom: From One Coach's Wife to the Next

Remember when I was in Dallas for the Final Four? Yea, that was only weeks ago, but wow lots has happened since that time! Let's see, for starter's Coach Kemp got a new gig with Ohio University! Oh, and then I ran my first marathon. Yea, that has all happened in like 6 weeks!

If you read my Final Four posts (here, here, and here), then you know that I visited with Kelly Ryan, wife to Bo Ryan, while in Dallas. This was not the first time that I had the opportunity to interact with Kelly, but I had not seen her in over a year. Overall, it was nice to chat with her, and of course, Emily Ryan, wife to Will Ryan (also on staff at Ohio University). Emily and I were discussing my angst with joining Twitter, which I later succumbed to and got an account, and all the other social media Apps out there. Honestly, I think we live in a time when social media and news is at an all-time high and crazy level. I mean can we even discuss the Solange and Jay-Z debacle. Lordy, it's a little too much!

Well beginning in April the basketball carousel begins to twirl, and coaches get fired, hired, and move around like they are hot potatoes. I always get super stressed for those coaches that lose their jobs. I do realize its the nature of the job, but it just freaks me out, EVERY SINGLE TIME. And I know, half the time I do not even know the people, but most of them have families, and I simply feel for them.

So my angst for those coaches also comes for my own family! Trying to make and feel at home in a city that one may not call home for very long, can at times, be challenging. I have a girlfriend whose husband works for Exxon, and their family has moved a few times, with an impending move this winter. We speak often about the struggles of being a female making friends in new cities! Let's be honest, it is not easy!

And then moving to cities far away from your immediate family is also not easy! I envy my friends that have lived in their hometown and most likely will never leave! I sometimes chuckle when asked where are we moving to next, or where would I like to live. Unfortunately, those conversations truly do not happen in the Kemp Household. We move to the city where the next opportunity resides!

 So of course when Kelly sat down, I asked her how she has handled and handles feeling settled. She candidly shared how quickly the process was when Bo got the job at UW-Madison. She shared that he came home in the middle of the day with Saul Phillips (yea the Head Coach at Ohio University!) to tell her Saul was driving him out to Madison for an interview. And then like the next day he was hired! I, of course, am leaving out a few details, but that was the gist of the timeline. Emily and I acknowledged that back then there was no Facebook, Twitter, and ESPN reports 24-7 speculating on who was getting jobs. However, she shared that she was not really entrenched in all the speculations and was going about her day to day. And one may now ask, why did you get Twitter?!?! I know, I know, LoL!

But overall, Kelly shared this one important take away - Live your life like you will reside in that city forever!

So I left Kelly with that notion with a smile on my face to learn days later that I would be moving, AGAIN! However, now that I am over that (blog post here), I am forever, grateful for her words of wisdom. I know coaching is not the only profession with a high transiency level, but I am really Type A and overall do not like change! I do best with routine, and it takes me a while to get used to the realization that my current day-to-day will be changing. Luckily, this lady gets to keep her job so I will still work with my same colleagues - Amen for that!

Michelyn

Question of the Day: Do you like change? have you lived in the same city your entire life? Want to move? To where?