Goodbye to the Lehigh Valley!

I love to move, it’s true.  Not just annoying cross-town moves,  big cross-country moves.  I love the adventure, the chance to start over, the discovery, the challenge, the anonymity in the new place (probably stemming from growing up as Coach Crumb’s daughter in a small town!)…. Basically I just love every part of it!  And in my 12 adult years, I’ve done it several times, so this ain’t my first rodeo.

But today, as I stare down these last 26 hours in the quaint little town I’ve called home for 3 years, I got to thinking about this move and how different it feels from every other move.  I find myself for the first time looking both backwards and forwards with equal amounts of sadness and excitement.

 I have legitimately made this town my home for 3 years, which is something I cannot say for the last 3 cities where I had an address.  The local bars, restaurants, boutiques, artists, runners, business owners, etc. know me by name.  Strangely, I hated that exact thing growing up, but now at 30, it feels warm and cozy. 

I’ll miss that. 

I’ll also love the adventure in rooting myself in a new neighborhood to recreate that feeling.

I always make great friends everywhere I go, and no exception here…. But again, it feels different.   These friends, knowingly or not, helped me survive some challenging times.  They witnessed and supported me during an intense 2 year work project, as I fell deeply in and out of love, when I missed my sister & her blondies, and maybe most importantly, they shared in my joy- all the wonderfully joyful moments and experiences I had here.   They have been my family when I didn’t have one near enough.

I’ll miss them.

I’ll also relish in challenge of making  new friends. And having my family a mile away.

So before I set off for the Chicago chapter, I’m stopping for a quick moment to let myself feel the bittersweet sting.  The pit in my stomach that’s dreading saying goodbye to friends tonight.  The ache in my heart to walk away from my home. 

Damn, I am amazingly blessed to have had an experience worth missing. 

And to my work friends reading this—NOPE!  Still won’t cry. ;)