If You’re Out on the Road…

In a few short weeks I’ll be making the drive west and a teensy little part of me is starting to feel a little anxious about, as Carole puts it “feeling lonely and so cold”. Though I don’t know about the cold part, the lonely, I am sure will come. And while I am oh-so-excited to ditch the wind and the snow, the friends and family I’m leaving behind are not so easily dismissed. For seven years, this town has been my home and choosing this cross-country endeavor was not something I entered into lightly.

This weekend I started packing and with each passing box I had to pause and take notice as I sifted through the memories of college and my first few “grownup” years. The parties, birthdays, graduations and weddings have passed all too quickly. I feel like it’s been a lifetime since I moved here. I grew up here. I found a second family here. I’ve built a life here. And now I’m starting from scratch again, or nearly so.

I know that moving doesn’t mean I’ll never see anyone on the east coast again but it will mean some bonds will be broken and some will be weakened. Weekly phone calls and emails will turn into monthly. Visits will wane as time marches on and eventually so many of the relationships I value now will be reduced to a name on a Christmas card. I would be a fool to believe otherwise. That’s okay though, because the bonds that do stand the test of time and distance will be the stronger for it. Parties and birthdays and graduations and weddings will still mean something. And when I say “an old friend of mine” I’ll mean someone I’m picking up from the airport or just wrote a letter to, not just a person I used to know. In time I’ll come to know those friends as the ones I share my successes and failures with, and the ones I offer my congratulations and condolences to. For those friends, thank you in advance. My great adventure west will have its ups and downs and I know you’ll be the ones who share the good times and help me through the bad. And in return, I’ll be ready with a shoulder to lean on or a glass to toast. All you have to do is call my name and I’ll be there.