Moving On

One year ago today, I was working my last day as a kindergarten teacher. It was a hectic weekend and I was glad to be able to climb into the awaiting Volvo with David at the wheel and just sit. We had cleared out and cleaned up our apartment (with the help of some very nice friends!) that Friday night and spent the night at our friends' home. D woke early the next morning and drove the packed truck by himself to CT where friends and family where waiting to help unload our many boxes into our parents' homes. I went back to the apartment and finished cleaning with a fury only a $700+ security deposit can gather. My friend and her toddler met me there later to help. It didn't seem like there was a lot to do, but I just remember the feeling of utter exhaustion halfway through. Probably had something to do with the busyness, stress, and my five-month pregnant belly. Hours later I closed the door, locked it, dropped the keys off at the office, and drove out of the complex with my packed Volvo...happy not to look back! It was all I could do to stay awake the rest of the day. I remember my friend Sara being worried about me. I was worried about me. The next day, Sunday, I went to church and I had to leave Sunday School because I had shortness of breath and was getting dizzy. Thinking back, I think that was around the time that I started to really show and my body was adjusting to that along with dealing with everything else that was going on. After church, Sara went with me to pick up David at the nearby train station. His parents had dropped him off at a train station in CT and he made the trip to PA in about five hours. I had never been so happy to see him in my life. Everything immediately got better. We spent another night at our friends' home (the same ones we're staying with this week) and left the next morning in time to make it to work for 9am.

David dropped me off at work since we only had one car (D's car was towed behind the truck and was obviously left in CT). I was only going to be working half a day, so D went to a local college to use their Internet access. I remember the hours flying by with mixed feelings of gladness at being able to move on with life and sadness at having to leave the friends we'd made behind. However, when 12:30pm came, I was out the door. We made our way uneventfully to CT along the route that we had perfected during our many trips home (D wrote these directions for a collegue just the other day). The arrival at the my parents' house officially closed the PA chapter and opened up another one yet to be written. I finally let myself relax and enjoy the summer weather that was well underway.

Over the next year, we bought our home, welcomed our baby boy, completed a year of internship, and started on the road of parenthood. What a year!