Melinda Decker:  

When I graduated in '94, I had big plans to settle down, get married, and have kids. Then my mom, ever so gently, booted me out of the nest (or she at least put the idea into my head), all the way across country to California, San Francisco Bay Area to be exact. Bet she regrets that now... here it is, 14 years later and though I've thought about it a million times or so, I never have made it back "home", at least for anything more than a visit. Though I did move to Chattanooga for one semi-misrable year. What can I say, my life's been pretty good here. Ups and downs sure, and at times it's still a little weird being a "country girl" in such a big city (I think I'm one of 5 or so people in the entire area who actually likes listening to country music!). But overall it's been great. I got my BA in Criminal Justice in 2000, then went on to a career that has very little to do with what I studied for 6 years. For the last 8 years I've worked at a residential facility for severly emotionally distrubed children. Most of our kids have some serious issues due to abuse or neglect and their behaviors (extremely aggressive/assaultive/ self-harming) are such that they currently can't be placed in fo...Expand for more