This is our third move in almost 6 years of marriage.
We moved to Fort Drum, NY in 2011.
We moved to Fort Benning, GA in 2013
And now we’ve moved here in 2016.
Each time we move it presents a new set of challenges. We moved the first time knowing he would be deploying a month later. We moved the second time while I was 38 weeks pregnant and prayed I wouldn’t go into labor on the drive. We moved this time knowing we’d be ripping our kids from their schools and having them start in a new one mid-year.
We moved from a house with a huge yard to a townhouse with barely any grass. I left a town where I knew everyone and I could throw a rock to my Starbucks and Target. Now? I can’t get anywhere without jumping on the highway and driving at least 15 minutes. I have to fight my kids on what they’re wearing everyday because they are so used to asking me ” is it cold out today?” Because in Georgia, it can change in an instant.
I know you might be thinking, poor me. But that’s not my point in this. I’m just stating the fact that we’ve had a lot of change in a short period of time. We’re all stressed out, out of our element, out of our routine, and at each other’s throats. The house still isn’t finished and unpacked and it seems as though all of these changes are hitting me a lot harder than I thought they would.
I never thought I would miss Georgia as much as I do. But I’m really homesick. Home has and always will be Cleveland, Ohio. But I’m realizing that Georgia was home too. Just like New York and my college in Oxford, Ohio were home too. Because for the span of time I was there, it’s where my heart was. I left a piece of my heart in each of these places and never got them back.
Of course my heart is wherever my family is. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t miss the other places and the life I made there. I know we’ll find a new normal and have a wonderful life in DC. It has only been a few weeks. But this is the reality and truth of moving so often. And it never gets easier.
But it’s an adventure right? One day at a time. We’ll make new friends and create new memories. Of course, never forgetting the people and life we left behind. But boy do I miss that right now…
