Just call me CPG for short, because this is a LONG one!

Well hello Steemit! I am the Chicagophotogirl. Now you may be wonder why I am the CPG but live in WI. Well sit right back and I will tell you the true evolution of my story!

**photo credit to deposit photos, stock photography.

I grew up in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago. Literally if I were to have lived one block east, I would have had a Chicago address. I couldn't really expect to use a username name like SWsuburbofchicagogirl, that would be ridiculous. Anyhow, I fell in love with photography in 1996 in my senior year of High School. I loved the darkroom. You could loose yourself in thought and creativity. We had a washing table that was about 8 feet long that would slowly run water over our pictures to wash the "fixing" agent off. It was such a calming sound. I really have to say this was my happy place. I purchase my first used SLR camera instead of going to prom and I lugged that thing all around school with me. I didn't take lot of pictures during classes, because I didn't want to be THAT girl but it was always with me.

After High School I didn't know what I wanted to do other than photography, however while I was deeply in love with film photography, the whole platform was moving to digital. I was "NEVER" going to do digital, it wasn't a true form of photography because you could put President Clinton's head Eddie Vetter and crazy things like that. I was not going to invest tens of thousands of dollars in art school not to learn an "art". (That is even if I could get in!!) Plus, I knew my parents were sick of the city and they wanted a more "relaxed" life.) We were moving to Missouri, I was not pleased!

At this point, I had met and fell in love for the very first time and it was intense. I was consumed by this love and didn't realize how close my family's move was and I was definitely not prepared to leave him behind. My parents moved with my 2 brothers and I moved in with my Grandma (whole other post), this would give me sometime to get a few things finished. I said goodbye to my family, and I was sort of on my own.

Grandma lost her husband when my dad was 3 and never married again. She was very much and introvert to my extrovert and she was VERY old fashioned. I was not supposed to be calling my boyfriend, HE should always call me. I was chasing him if I called first. Trying to explain to my grandmother that he was also my friend and not just a boyfriend was like trying to explain who TLC was and why they "Chased waterfalls".

Fast forward about 3 months and my immediate family had to come back to Chicago for a wedding. I was working 2 part time jobs, one that was over an hour commute and the other had me working on the WEEKENDS (ugh), and my grandmother was CONVINCED I was anorexic. " I never see you eat honey," she'd say. "Well I leave before you are up and I am gone for 10 hours. I promise you I eat!" I missed my family and was so happy to see them.

I can't describe the feeling of saying goodbye to them when I was barely 18 and they were leaving ME and going off somewhere without me. It sort of felt like they should have been staying HERE and I should have been leaving to start anew somewhere. But so it was....

My relationship went from being consuming to distant once my boyfriend started college and had to juggle his own job and friends and etc. so that ended. I swallowed my pride and told my parents I needed to be with them. The last place in the US I wanted to live was Missouri, but that is where my family was and I was not ready to be on my own.

END OF PART I

PART II
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@chicagophotogirl/city-girl-moves-to-small-town