I’ve gotten the question Why Hiawatha? several times since announcing our move from The Little Apple, our college town and home for almost half our lives. Seriously…The City of Beautiful Maples and The Oldest Halloween Parade in the nation aren’t selling points enough?   Another Hiawatha claim to fame: it is the birthplace of Bill Martin, Jr., author of Brown Bear and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom .  I’m unaware of an official Bill Martin, Jr. holiday or parade here…but it’s something I’d like to propose now that I’m an official Hiawathan.

I created a little infographic about our decision to move.

So as you can see the move started with Kyle’s work, considered our family, and ultimately led to opening my own mental health therapy practice.  Much of rural Kansas lacks for options when it comes to mental health services.  There is a community mental health center, but for various reasons, some folks aren’t going to go there.  They either drive 40 minutes or more to see a therapist or they don’t see one at all.  Hiawatha is no different.  I believe HMH has the opportunity to fill a need in this community and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here.  We have found Hiawatha to be incredibly welcoming (think garden fresh produce and baked goods from our neighbors).  I’m a week or so out from opening the doors for business and I couldn’t be more pleased with the decision to come to this community.

Oh and one more thing – the only potential deterrent for this family of Wildcats was the Hiawatha High School mascot, which looks and sounds just a little too much like the other state school mascot.  It wasn’t a deal breaker, but we talked about it.  See below.

REDHAWK