My Life in Boxes

 Otherwise known as... Moving On...

Prologue-- The author wrote this post back in October when she was making the transition from her Small Town to her New Small Town.  She wasn't ready to post to the internet at the time, but has since renewed her verve for writing.  Read on... 

October 2015. 

Last Christmas, my cousin's wife looked at me as we sat together on the couch before dinner, catching up, and said something that has stayed with me all year.

Jen, I have to tell you, I really miss your blog.

She told me some other great encouraging words about my writing, and I mumbled something about missing the writing process as well and wanting to begin again, and as far as action goes, that's where it ended.

I kept thinking about the exchange.  I admire my cousin's wife greatly for her wit and all around amazingness as a mother, as a woman, and as a human being making her way on this big blue planet, and it meant a lot to me that she cared about what I had to say.  So the thoughts percolated.

And percolated.

And continued to percolate throughout the spring, as I shook my life up and set out to transition from my Ever Growing School District to the District Beyond the Northern Border.

Change is essential for growth.  Setting course in another direction has not been easy (househunting was a bear!!!) but I know that I am moving-- pun entirely intended-- in the right direction for my life.

Since my father passed, I have put my mother first.  She needed me, and I needed her, and we got through the hard stuff of grief and adjusting to the new normal.  There's not a day that goes by that my heart doesn't ache for the fun-- and the love-- that my dad added to our lives.

I've gotta say, though, that we're both doing okay.  Mom goes dancing at the senior center each week and has increased her social circle during the past few years.  She actually gets out more than I do.

Which is sad, and great, at the same time.  I prefer to focus on the great.

I have dated some, but for the longest time my focus was on completing my Specialist degree at Stetson.  When I emerged from the haze of academia, it became evident that I was ready to shake things up.  Shake things up I did.  First by transferring from My Small Town High School to a Title I school on the other side of the district, and then finally by striking out into the great Beyond.

My goal is to create a life for myself in which work is a component, but not my entire existence.  I am consciously letting go of my inner overachiever, but she rears her ugly head from time to time, and I beat her back into submission.  As a counselor, I am aware that behavior modification is a work in progress.

We are all a work in progress.

I have spent this weekend packing the possessions I have accumulated, as well as some things I couldn't live without when I came to stay with Mom.  It is amazing-- and eye-opening-- how much space I have created in the house while putting my life in boxes.

I close tomorrow, on a beautiful three bedroom/two bathroom condo, in My New Small Town, just minutes from My New School.  It's on the second floor, with vaulted ceilings and a view of the golf course.  I'll be moving in on my birthday.  I can't think of a better gift.

Sometimes the gift of a new start is exactly what one needs.






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