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Izzie, 32

Izzie Mills looked at the list outside of her office.”Unbelievable not a single person has signed up.”

She scolded herself, “Damn it!”

As she did this, she grabbed her mini hand sanitizer from her purse.  She cleaned her hands one more time. Truthfully, Izzie was obsessed about cleaning. To the point, she always to carry hand sanitizer. This was something she tried to keep hidden but didn’t know how much longer she could keep up with it.

This had been a long few months for Izzie. Not only had she relocated to the small town of Duncan in Texas. She still didn’t know the reason she had left NYC to come there. But one day she just up and was ready to start fresh somewhere new.

Besides, it helped to forget the past she left behind. Her boyfriend, Derek, whom she dated for almost three years. But Izzie had enough of his cheating ways. He would never be loyal or the marrying kind. But he wasn’t the reason for her suddenly uprooting her whole life. It happened on one of the days she attended a seminar with all of her psychology colleagues. In the seminar, one of the main speakers gave a motivational speech about how being a mentor for a group in Wisconsin had changed her life. She spoke about how the mentoring program was created for adults who were struggling with different kinds of addictions and stresses. It had completely changed her outlook on the way she viewed everything.

“Being able to connect with all of those individuals and hear their own stories and being able to help one another in a group setting was just so rewarding.”   

At first, Izzie felt the woman speaking sounded more like a cult leader than someone who wanted to help. But as the time went on, she listened to all the different impacts she was making with the set individuals who took part in the program, and how they all were living better lives, not just physically, but also mentally.

“We all meet once a week and check-in with one another, and it is a group effort to be there.”

After hearing this seminar, Izzie could not resist and she called the Speaker. She gave Izzie all the details, and then Izzie took the next step and moved.

It was difficult for her to move to a different state, and at first, the first few months took a toll on her. Izzie’s mother and father could not understand.

“Why are you leaving us and why Texas?”  

Izzie loved her parents, but honestly, they lived in New Jersey and were always around her. She wanted a break.

“Mom and Dad, I love you guys, but I just have to do this.”

At the present moment, Izzie was missing her parents and wondered if she had made a mistake.

She sighed and began to walk away when suddenly she overheard a voice.

“Excuse me, is this where you sign up for Group?”

It startled Izzie at first and then she smiled.

“Yes, hello. I am Izzie Mills, and I am the Group Mentor.”

“Hey, Ms. Mills. I am Andres, and I am pleased to meet you.”

For the moment, Izzie was relieved.  She knew it was only one person who signed up for Group. But that was enough for her.

Let’s hope there is more.  

After that, Izzie was glad, she had made the change of moving.