There Is No Arizona

Jamie O'Neal's album Shiver from 2000 was one of the very first country music CDs I bought after getting into the genre for the first time.

I loved this song, but I didn't understand the true meaning of the song as a teenager. Now it has a lot more depth, especially after a later relationship with a man who didn't tell me that he would never give me what I wanted in life. For two and a half years, he led me on until I confronted him about his growing distance. Then he told me the truth, and that was that.

He didn't promise me Arizona, but like the lyrics hint at wasted time, his lies by omission led me to feel like I wasted those years, and the toxicity in our relationship soured it further.

My marriage is healthy and strong, and that eases the pain of those memories.