Well, my friends, the time has finally come. Our family is packing up and moving to North Carolina this weekend. As expected, I'm feeling a wide range of emotions about this move. For starters, I'm going to miss the city. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to me to leave behind living in a city, and all the great things that come with calling an urban setting home. I'm really going to miss the ease of walking to the bakery in my neighborhood most mornings and those amazing raspberry and cheese croissants! I'm also going to miss having access to all kinds of events and venues (although I'm certain Durham has a lot going on too). There's also all the hustle and bustle and the "city" wackiness I see daily. I'm definitely going to miss all that. Heck, I'm even going to miss the subway. Yeah, I know. Who misses the gross subway?! It's not the subway itself, but the ease of hopping on, with or without Felix, and in a matter of minutes being transported to another part of town. No driving required. Love that.
Okay enough prattling on.
Now for the biggest issue. As you can probably understand, I've been dealing with a lot of sadness about moving away from all the great friends I have made in Philly. I am going to miss them so much. They know who they are. I love them to bits and can't imagine not living near some of them. Ack! Why can't they all move with me?!
But on the flipside of all this, I can hardly wait to land in Durham and see what the future holds for all of us there. I'm excited to live in a college town again...it has been a long time. I'm thrilled to introduce Felix to a big backyard and lots of new to us playgrounds and parks. And most of all, I'm really excited to get involved in what appears to be a really great community and meet some new friends. Oh, and being close to all the great people we know in Winston-Salem, Wilmington, and Asheville is making me giddy with excitement too. Good things are defintely on the horizon for us. That I know.
Thank you, City of Brotherly Love. You've been so good to us.
We've lived in Philadelphia for the last five years --the longest we've lived anywhere since our undergraduate days. Many BIG moments have taken place here.
We got engaged at a sweet little b.y.ob. here.
We planned a wedding and got married while living here.
We said goodbye to a part of our family here.
Um, we made a baby, and I gave birth to that sweet little baby boy here.
We've raised him for the first year of his life here.
I started graduate school and finished graduate school (with an infant. yipes!)
Dustin began and completed his PhD.
Great friends (more like family, actually) were made.
And much, much more.
What can I say, we lived the last 5 unforgettable years in Philly, with all the ups and downs and joy and sadness that came along. It's a beautiful life. It really is.
As the song says, "it's time to move on. gotta get going. what lies ahead I have no way of knowing".
So, that's what we're going to do.
Thanks for dropping by this space during the "Philly years".
I do hope you'll stop by during the "Carolina years".
Onward and upward!
L.
p.s. In the meantime, I have some very special friends/bloggers/fellow mamas stopping in to share a little something with you while I'm rambling down the road and getting settled in Durham. I hope you enjoy their words.
