With her piercing blue eyes and her outgoing nature, Misty Barden, a Norwich native, never gives up on her dreams, her goals or her ideas.
Some may say Misty can be outspoken at times, but she says she just likes to get her point across and be honest with everyone she meets.
“Being honest is the best way. I tell people the truth, and maybe sometimes they don’t want to hear it, but I mean good when I am straight up with people,” Barden says. “If I have something to say, I’m going to say it. Maybe that’s why my parents and I used to argue so much.”
Always carrying with her a strong sense of independence, Misty did not wait long to move away and try life out for herself.
“I worked while I was in high school and loved having the independence to buy the things I wanted,” she said.
Directly after high school, Barden moved to Endicott after meeting the man who would be her future husband at the Gus Macker Tournament in Norwich. Misty says she always knows what she wants and never doubts her feelings on any matters. She says the minute she met Matt Barden, she knew she would marry him.
While living in Endicott, Misty tried the waters at college and in the work force. She worked for a large insurance company and found she had a knack for the administration world.
Shortly after moving to Endicott, Misty found out she was expecting her first child. Having grown up in a household with a strong religious bond, Misty was unsure how the news was going to be welcomed at home. She was determined to have the baby and get married later. She had her plans in mind, and although having a baby may not have been one of them, she was determined to create her family and figure the rest out later.
In 2003 she had Amelia, and soon later she and Matt were married. She decided to move to Atlanta and start a life there to experience something different. She says she wanted her family to go to Georgia and try it on their own. She said they just needed to get away for a little while and find themselves.
While in Georgia, she slowly came to realize the importance of family and friends, as she learned that the siblings who once got on her nerves, the parents who kept tabs on her and her friends who were her leaning posts when she needed them the most were hundreds of miles out of reach.
“I wanted to leave the area so bad, but I know now, Norwich will always be where I call home,” Barden said.
Having stayed in Georgia too long and lost too much while there, Barden says she is happy to be back in upstate New York. She says her three siblings and herself have grown closer with each day.
She says she has incredible parents. When she was growing up she didn’t know what they were really worth. Through the rough times and the great times, she says she couldn’t see what their reasoning was and always had her own agenda to follow.
Misty and her family, only two months ago, moved back to New York, and both she and her husband are living and working in Syracuse.
Working as an administrative assistant, Barden says, keeps her busy, and she knows that as long as she is happy it doesn’t really matter what she does. She also says as long as she is near family and friends, her life is complete.
Barden says she made some great friends in Georgia but realized quickly they just couldn’t replace her friends from home.
Misty says she is unsure of what the future holds. She wants to expand her family and get their lives straight now that they are in a place that they love. She would like to go back to school within the next year to continue her education in nursing.