Every New Beginning...

Our family is packing up the last of our things for a crosstown move this weekend. We've been wanting to move for years, and probably would have already done so by now, but COVID-19 threw a wrench into those plans. A very minor inconvenience during such a chaotic time.

But now moving day is almost upon us, and although I logically understand why the move makes sense, I do feel a ping of sadness. I raised children within these walls. I can point out where babies took their first steps, where I planted my first strawberries, and where I sat down to write the first few words that would become Chasing Lightning. Leaving the place where I've spent the vast majority of my life this last decade is like saying good-bye to an old friend, one I'm not likely to ever meet again.

image

The only four-leaf clover I've ever found in my entire life, despite a childhood of searching, was in that backyard.

But, as Seneca the Younger said to later inspire Semisonic (which is where I heard it), "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." 2020 itself is a lot of things, honestly not a lot of them great for many people, but it is also an opportunity for change. It's personally been a rough year for my family, with a tough medical diagnosis in January and not being able to see my 99-year-old grandmother for months due to understandable lockdown at her care facility. However, I'm clinging to hope as I tape up the last box and haul it out to the truck that change will be for the better. That new, good memories can form from personal (and global) chaos.

As you're reading this, I hope you see a pathway to better days ahead. I hope you have support and love. My personal plan is to keep listening, learning, and growing so that I can take care of those I love and create a community I am proud of. Because life isn't ultimately about where I live, but the people all around me.